Verstappen: 'You just have to accept it's not your day'

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Max Verstappen said Saturday's qualifying pretty much reflected his disappointing performance since the start of the Abu Dhabi GP weekend.

The Red Bull driver finished the evening session P6, a few tenths off fourth-placed team mate Daniel Ricciardo, admitting it was another struggling effort.

"The whole weekend already I was just struggling with the car balance and just not happy with it,” said the 20-year-old.

Ricciardo eyes podium after splitting Ferraris in qualifying

"Sometimes you have those days you just have to accept it’s not going to be your day, you’re just fighting the car a lot. You still try to do the best possible job but that was sixth today."

Verstappen underlined his RB13's precarious balance which enticed him to make set-up changes. To no avail unfortunately.

"Run by run it’s a bit different because we change a lot of things: Front grip, rear grip. Qualifying was more, I guess, rear grip."

"I don’t know what went wrong otherwise for sure we would have changed it. What we have to do now is understand what it was and hopefully we can learn something for tomorrow.

"The conditions for the race should be similar to tonight so I think it will be a hard race from our side but let’s wait and see what we can do. Daniel is in front of Kimi so hopefully that could mean a bit of a fight for us tomorrow and we can avoid a lonely race."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.