Max Verstappen has conceded his Red Bull team has not been able to eradicate the bouncing that has plagued his Qatar Grand Prix weekend.
The four-time Formula 1 world champion finished fourth in the sprint on Saturday, having struggled with porpoising and what he described as “jumping” throughout the sole practice session and sprint qualifying on Friday.
Those issues persisted into the sprint, and he was unable to mount a sustained challenge on championship leader Lando Norris.
Finishing behind the McLaren driver means that Verstappen must outscore the Briton to ensure he remains in the hunt for a fifth title at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Red Bull seeks fix
As per sprint weekend regulations, parc ferme was lifted after the sprint to allow drivers and teams to adjust the set-ups of their cars and Red Bull took the opportunity to try to address the bouncing issues faced by Verstappen.
The fight rolls onto Race Day, tomorrow!#F1 || #QatarGP 🇶🇦 pic.twitter.com/9Qk6AI6Y8x
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) November 29, 2025
While the pace was such that he improved on his sixth position in SQ3 24 hours earlier – Verstappen finishing third behind Norris and polesitter Oscar Piastri – the Dutchman indicated there were still issues with his car.
The result, however, gives Verstappen a chance of using the clean side of the grid to beat Norris to Turn 1 to keep his hopes alive, with overtaking proven difficult after lap one during the sprint.
“I think this qualifying was a little bit better, even though, of course, it is still quite far off,” said Verstappen, having finished 0.264s behind Piastri’s pole time, which was a new lap record.
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“But at least I felt a little bit happier, but still some limitations that don’t allow us to push harder around the lap, but at least we’re P3; we are starting on the second row, and it creates better opportunities, because we know that it’s quite hard to pass around here.”
Verstappen’s two positions made up in the sprint were courtesy of a move on Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin into Turn 1 after a slow start for the Spaniard, as well as a gift from teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who put up no defence.
On his prospects in the grand prix, he explained: “Realistically, it’s a bit tough this weekend. Just not been what I wanted it to be so far, but we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Asked whether the bouncing had been taken away as part of the improvements made by Red Bull, Verstappen replied: “No, it’s still not amazing.”
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