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F1 World Explodes With Hilarious Memes After Max Verstappen Retirement From Saudi Arabian Qualifying
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Max Verstappen retired from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying during Q2 after a suspected driveshaft issue leaving him starting the race tomorrow in P15 behind rival Charles Leclerc, who took a ten-place grid penalty starting in twelfth. Now, fans of the F1 have taken to Twitter to share hilarious memes of the occasion.
The Dutch driver was called back to the pits under limp mode but soon exited his car after it was established it couldn't be repaired in time for the end of the qualifying session. Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez went on to take pole position for the Red Bull team and will start on the front row with Fernando Alonso just behind him in the Aston Martin.
Here are some of our favourite memes from Verstappen's unlucky moment.
Max was quick to turn to optimism while still visibly annoyed after qualifying as he talked with reporters.
"Coming out of Turn 10 it happened. The chance... is very annoying for it to happen. I mean, I think we so far had a really good weekend.
"Every session was going really well. and every time you want to track you know, the car was working really well.
"So now, it will be a bit more tricky to get to the front. but it's all about scoring points. I'm starting further up the road but we cannot change that now.
"Anything is possible at this track. We've seen a lot of crazy things but we've also got to stay a little realistic. I mean it's gonna be tough, but we have good pace so I'm sure we'll move forward."
His teammate Sergio Perez, who took pole in his absence, noted that the reigning F1 champion had been struggling for the majority of the weekend with what we assume are reliability issues.
"It was pretty good, that Q3," he said about his qualifying lap that landed him pole. "Especially not getting that second lap. That Q1 was quite good, quite clean - really clean. Nailing that lap you really feel the Formula One cars coming alive in this place.
"And yes, maximising that lap was was very important because with the issue we had into into this final round, was really important as the track was improving."
The Grand Prix tomorrow will be one to watch as Max returns to fight through the crowded tarmac of the Jeddah track.