"Max Verstappen welcome to the Ayao Komatsu penitentiary": Fans react to the Red Bull driver finishing behind Nico Hulkenberg in the Qatar GP Sprint
Max Verstappen's start to the F1 Qatar GP sprint definitely didn't go the way the Dutchman planned as the Red Bull driver finished the race in P8 behind Nico Hülkenberg. The four-time world champion didn't seem to have the pace to take the fight to the German. Fans have now come out and reacted to Verstappen's inability to overtake Hülkenberg.
Verstappen started the race in P6 after a subpar qualifying run. The Dutchman has a great record of making up positions on the first lap during the 2024 season, but things went south at the Qatar sprint. His Red Bull RB20 bogged down initially with Lewis Hamilton making his way past the #1 car.
The four-time champion was then boxed in by Leclerc's Ferrari into Turn 1 allowing Kevin Magnussen to go past him. Spells of oversteering in the next section of corners also allowed Gasly to make his way through. The Dutchman fought his way back into the points. However, his progress was halted on Lap 8 as he was unable to pass Hülkenberg in P7 in the remaining 11 laps.
Fans took to social media platforms as they reacted to Verstappen finishing behind Hulkenberg.
“Max Verstappen welcome to the Ayao Komatsu penitentiary,” wrote a fan on social media platform X.
“Hulkenberg beating Verstappen in a Haas. He's a generational talent, I don't wanna hear it. Don't chat to me”, wrote another user.
Another fan pulled out the lap time stats of Verstappen and Hulkenberg. “Laps 8-19. Verstappen: 1:25.085, Hulkenberg: 1:25.095 (0.010s slower). Basically even still. That's wild.”
The gap remained constant at about 1.5-1.6 seconds. Neither Hulkenberg nor Verstappen had any DRS between lap 8-19, making the race pace comparison eye-opening. Another fan took the opportunity to highlight Hulkenberg’s exceptional performances by dragging Sergio Perez under the bus.
He said, “Hulkenberg in his Haas has finished ahead of Verstappen more times in 2024 than Perez in the same car”
“Verstappen finishing behind Hulkenberg wasn’t on my 2024 bingo card”, wrote another user
Verstappen complained about his car oversteering all over the place throughout the race on the radio. The balance issues arguably put the Dutchman on the back foot and were the reason for his average performance.
“No balance on entry, mid-corner”: Max Verstappen’s take on the tricky Qatar GP Sprint
The wind speed picked up before the race, arguably throwing off the Red Bull RB20's balance. Neither Max Verstappen nor Sergio Perez had any pace to offer in the Qatar sprint. 'Checo' started the race from the pits and was stuck behind Colapinto for the length of it.
Max Verstappen said (via @skysportsf1):
"No balance on entry, no balance mid-corner.. I couldn't even catch Nico [Hulkenberg]! That says enough for us, it's very bad this weekend so far."
Christian Horner came out after the sprint race and reportedly mentioned that the Dutchman wasn't able to fire up his tires while the others around him did. By the time Verstappen got them up to working temperatures, the front runners were gone.