Max Verstappen says a "terrible" first set of tyres in Q3 left him low on grip which thwarted the build-up to his final run in Saturday evening's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying session.
The Dutchman ultimately clocked in fourth, 0.261s adrift from his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, who secured in Jeddah his first career pole in F1, and behind the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Speaking after the session, Verstappen was at a loss to understand why his first set of soft compound tyres were so low on grip.
"I think in Q1 and Q2, everything was looking quite well," Verstappen told Sky F1.
"It was just my first set in Q3 was terrible. I don't know, it was like a completely different feeling with the tyres.
They were just moving around a lot more, and so it was really difficult for me to drive.
"When you have that bad of a build-up and rhythm, and you go onto your second tyre set... I just didn't really feel comfortable. And also, that tyre set, I couldn't really extract like I did in Q1 and Q2.
"On a track where the ambient temperature is coming down and the track temperature is coming down, you should easily improve, but for me, it felt quite like flat, or even worse, throughout qualifying.
"It's the first time I have something like that, so it's something I need to look into."
While disappointed by his qualifying result, Verstappen pointed to Perez's performance as a reason to be optimistic for Sunday's race.
"I'm complaining and I didn't have a good feeling, but the potential of the car is there," added the reigning world champion.
"Checo did a great job today, so I'm very happy for him, and hopefully we can make it difficult for Ferrari also tomorrow in the race."
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