Max Verstappen has detailed that the C6 compound "fell away" from him on his final qualifying lap, resulting in pole position defeat to Oscar Piastri at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The four-time world champion found good pace in qualifying following a positive third practice, where it was seen that he could be a threat to McLaren.
Verstappen was exactly that, and found himself on provisional pole ahead of the final hot laps in qualifying.
In the end, the extremely soft C6 tyres were too difficult for Verstappen to manage, with him pondering whether the compound is incorrect for Imola.
"Yeah, I think everything was going really well," said Verstappen. "Just the softest compound, it's very difficult to keep them alive around the lap. So yeah, sector one was good.
"And then the tyres again fell away from me from there onwards, like tiny, tiny margins. But, it was cool, but then you could see George, he set his lap on a medium.
"So, yeah, maybe they [the C6 tyres] were a bit too soft for this track, and for us, at least, it was a bit more difficult to extract the most out of it.
"I felt a bit happier on the medium, but the race is tomorrow. That's where you score the points, of course, so that's what we have to focus on. But I do think that today was a very good day for us."
For Verstappen, he has Piastri alongside him on the front row and Lando Norris directly behind after the Briton qualified in fourth.
The Woking-based team has consistently had the strongest race pace, making Verstappen unsure if he can battle for the win.
"Let's see. Last race was not really a fight," added Verstappen. "So I hope that we just pick up a bit of pace, have a bit more of a stable car, and then hopefully we can look after our tyres a bit better."
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