Max Verstappen conceded that it was "very frustrating" to encounter technical issues in Q3 in Hungary and be denied the chance to compete for pole position. The Red Bull driver was hoping to go against Ferrari's 'favourites' tag and mount a challenge for pole position. However, the reigning World Champion struggled for grip during his first qualifying run and understeered wide at Turn 2. His second run is where he encountered power loss issues, and radio conversations between him and the team were unable to solve the issue. Verstappen will therefore start the race from 10th place, with championship rival Charles Leclerc starting from third. In a bad day for Red Bull, Sergio Perez failed to progress from Q2, and will start from P11.
Verstappen explains qualifying issues
Speaking after the qualifying hour, Verstappen was asked by Viaplay if he knew what the issue was, and when the technical issue developed. "The problem was already there when I left the pits. I haven't been to the team yet to see what it was," Verstappen confirmed. "It's very frustrating, especially after it looked like we had found some speed. Then you have this [problem], so it's a real shame." Verstappen was then asked if he thought pole position would have been possible, having shown encouraging speed in the earlier qualifying sessions. "Yes, I think so. If you look at Q2, everything looked a lot better," he commented. "Of course, there's always a question of where you finish, but the speed was good. "I hope we don't lose too much time in the beginning of the race compared to the guys we are really fighting with. We'll see. It's hard to say what's going to happen now."
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