Italian GP: Nico Rosberg on ‘surprising’ qualifying for Pink Bull and Max Verstappen at Monza | F1 Information

Sky Sports activities F1’s Nico Rosberg says it’s “dark times” at Pink Bull after Max Verstappen completed seventh in a “shocking” qualifying on the Italian Grand Prix.

Verstappen suffered his worst qualifying of the 12 months and was seven tenths down on pole-sitter Lando Norris, who’s 70 factors behind the championship chief.

It’s a continuation of Pink Bull’s dip in type earlier than the summer time break and eventually weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, the place Verstappen completed 23 seconds behind Norris.

Verstappen was second in Q2 and anticipated to be within the battle for pole however he struggled to get his tyres working within the closing a part of qualifying and solely narrowly beat Pink Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.

“It’s shocking, it’s unbelievable where Verstappen is,” stated 2016 F1 world champion Rosberg.

“This weekend I am fairly certain they do not perceive the tyres and what is going on on there.

“That is darkish, darkish occasions there. Max would not perceive and it is all going away from them, which is so sudden. It is actually surreal.

“So that is such a tough situation to be in for them, because also there can come panic very quickly. Both championships are starting to slip away, even the Drivers’ Championship. If it continues like this, that will slip away very quickly.”

Verstappen: Automobile is just not very drivable

Verstappen hasn’t received the final 5 occasions, his longest winless streak since 2020, and that run is about to proceed after Sunday.

Ought to the Italian Grand Prix end because it begins, then a one-two for McLaren, with Verstappen and Perez down in seventh and eighth, would see Pink Bull drop behind the Woking-based crew within the Constructors’ Championship.

Pink Bull haven’t clearly said what’s brought on their rivals to catch and overhaul them nevertheless it looks as if one thing has gone improper with their improvement, which has put the automotive right into a slender working window.

“The car is very difficult to drive and to find a good balance in it. If you have one issue and try to fix that, then there is another issue,” Verstappen informed Sky Sports activities F1.

“It’s just not very driveable, let’s put it like that. I thought Q2 was not too bad but then somehow in Q3 everything just felt really bad again. I had a lot of understeer on both tyres – that I cannot explain.

“I misplaced loads of lap time, I could not actually push the tyres, so struggling loads with that for a purpose, which I do not perceive in the meanwhile.”

Verstappen’s long-run tempo on Friday was a match for McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari, so he could possibly be within the battle for the rostrum.

He has Lewis Hamilton in entrance of him in sixth, plus the 2 Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, with George Russell in third behind the 2 McLarens.

A one-stop race will make issues tough for Verstappen to maneuver up the grid and he is not optimistic about his possibilities.

“All the long runs that I did were also not really promising,” he stated.

“The problem is that our car is just not balanced, and when you don’t have a balanced car, it’s hard on tyres and everything becomes even more difficult in the race. And I think that’s what will happen tomorrow as well.”

Requested if he was involved concerning the title battles, he added: “The last few races have not been great, so we have to really try to turn it around and become more competitive.”

Horner: One thing is clearly improper

Pink Bull have received simply three races because the Miami Grand Prix in the beginning of Might, the place McLaren started to constantly battle on the entrance.

With 9 races remaining, Pink Bull face a severe battle to win each titles and Christian Horner says Sunday’s race can be “tough”.

“Something is fundamentally happening that we are not on top of at the moment,” stated Horner.

“We need to obviously understand it and understand why on the older tyre we’re able to do that time, and two sets of new tyres we couldn’t get anywhere near it.

“Q2 did not look took too dangerous, nonetheless the dealing with traits that Max has been speaking, however then Q3, there’s one thing amiss that the others can all enhance on new tyres however we had been miles away. So we have to perceive that and perceive it rapidly.”

Verstappen and Perez ran completely different flooring specs at Zandvoort, earlier than converging to run the brand new flooring this weekend at Monza.

However early indications are that the automotive comparisons between the Pink Bull pair have not improved the efficiency.

“We are looking at everything. We ran older spec last week to see if that redressed any of the issues at all,” continued Horner.

“But the reality was we still had the same handling characteristics and issues with that spec from the beginning of the year.

“That is given an terrible lot of information for the fellows, however loads to get our head round and we have to handle it rapidly. We are able to see the McLarens have made a major step over the previous few races and we at the moment are behind Ferrari and Mercedes right here as nicely.

“A lot to do. Race points are tomorrow but starting seventh and eighth, that’s going to be tough.

“I believe there’s one thing that clearly is not engaged on the automotive. We’re making an attempt to unravel that and perceive. There can be an engineering answer to an engineering drawback.”

Sky Sports F1’s live Italian GP schedule

Sunday September 1
7:30am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
11am: Porsche Supercup
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Italian GP build-up
2pm: The ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Italian GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook

Watch the Italian Grand Prix live this Sunday at 2pm on Sky Sports F1. Stream each F1 race and extra with a NOW Sports activities Month Membership, No contract, cancel anytime.