Max Verstappen says the positive signs from Red Bull’s pace at the United States Grand Prix outweigh any frustration over missing out on pole position.
Victory in the Sprint was Verstappen’s first win of any kind since the Sprint at the Austrian Grand Prix back in July, and he duly looked set for pole position again after topping both of the first two parts of qualifying on Saturday. However, Lando Norris was quickest on the opening runs in Q3 and then George Russell crashed to end the session early, leaving Verstappen to settle for second on the grid.
“I was a good amount up but already my first lap in Q3 I missed Turn 19,” Verstappen said. “I don’t know what happened there. I just turned in, braked a bit late, tried to carry more speed, I had to downshift one more time and lost quite a bit there which would already have been enough for pole.
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“So I knew the second lap there was time to find for free, but never really got to that corner. That happens. In qualifying, it is not always in your control. In general for us, this whole weekend so far has been a lot more positive, we could at least fight for pole.
“I’m overall happy. I’m not frustrated. … I felt quite decent today. We made a few changes on the car and hopefully that will help again for the race, and then hopefully we can try and do the same.
As he goes in search of his first grand prix win since Spain — nine races ago — Verstappen puts the stronger showing at COTA down to a combination of track characteristics and a more complaint Red Bull car.
“First of all, Singapore has never been a good track for us,” he said. “All the low-speed corners and the bumps, our car just doesn’t really work on that. It’s a very different track layout. Plus, I think we made the car more stable, so you can attack corners a bit better. That then also helps the tires out a bit, so I think that has been the main improvement.”