Verstappen critical of Pirelli after introducing compound for the first time in Imola

The C6 makes its debut in Formula 1 this weekend. Max Verstappen set the second fastest time in Qualifying for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, and finished 0.034 seconds behind Oscar Piastri's McLaren.

After the session, the defending world champion explained that the drivers had to experiment with the new compound. "Quite a bit because it’s the first time with the C6 as well, so I think no one is really on top of it yet. But it’s clear that probably for a track like this, it’s really on the limit or already a bit over the limit."

The Dutchman also explained that he expects the teams and drivers will also stay away from the C6 on Sunday. "I don’t know yet. I don’t think many people will touch the C6 if you need to do a lot of laps in a row, but we’ll see tomorrow."

Pole sitter Oscar Piastri also shared his thoughts on the tyre situation, looking ahead to the Grand Prix.

He continued: "So, there are positives — for us anyway — of these one-stop races and tyres that feel a bit better. But we'll see after tomorrow. If tomorrow is still a one-stop race, then obviously it's probably back to the drawing board a little bit more. But it's not easy to make a tyre that performs well over one lap and then doesn't destroy itself in the race. So, we'll see after tomorrow. That will be a better test of whether these soft compounds have worked or not."

According to Verstappen however, the C6 could work better next weekend in Monaco. "I think it's just the layout of this track. Too many high-speed corners. Probably when you go to a more low-speed corner track, it probably will be a little bit better. So, let's see next week how that will go," the Red Bull driver concluded.