"The whole weekend we have been struggling a bit," says Max
Saturday 5 September 2020 16:41, UK
Max Verstappen said he was not surprised to fall back into the midfield in Italian GP qualifying, but insisted that was "not good enough" for a Red Bull team who have been Mercedes' main F1 2020 rivals at the front.
For only the second time this season, both Red Bull drivers missed out a second-row start for a race as Verstappen finished fifth in the Monza shootout, and struggling team-mate Alex Albon ninth.
On F1's fastest circuit which favours engine power, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez both out-paced Verstappen, who has six consecutive podiums and has been exclusively putting pressure on the Mercedes in F1 2020.
Asked if he was surprised by Sky F1's Rachel Brookes, Verstappen said: "Not this weekend.
"The whole weekend we have been struggling a bit. I tried everything, tried all the wing levels that are possible to run at Monza and at the end of the lap I was the same.
"It shows that when we are in low-downforce, the car is still not where we want it to be, struggling a bit for balance and grip in general. There are a lot of things to look into.
"It's easy to say we are down on power but that's not an excuse."
Verstappen, who was a tenth of a second off third but almost a second slower than Lewis Hamilton on pole, added: "We just didn't do a good job.
"Monza is a very special track, when we go back to a more normal lay-out, I expect us to be P3 again but it's still not good enough from our side."
While Verstappen's race pace should be better than his qualifying - as has been the case in F1 2020 - he will have to overtake fast cars on Monza's demanding straights to keep up his podium streak.
"We are all very close from P3 and P9 and P10 here," he said. "I expect I'll still fight for P3, but we won't talk about Mercedes - that's another level!"
