Max Verstappen says he is looking forward to a close battle with the McLaren drivers after once again surpassing both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the sprint at the United States Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s resurgence since Monza has continued, with Verstappen beating both McLarens in every qualifying session since taking pole in Italy last month. That includes strong performances in Baku and Singapore, and after setting the fastest time in sprint qualifying he expects a straight battle with the McLaren pair on Saturday.
“It was a nice qualification,” said Verstappen. “I think we were pretty close in all segments. Just trying to bring everything together when it matters in the end, which is not easy because you basically go to the soft compound without reference. But it worked well.
“Still expect it to be a tough battle tomorrow in the Sprint. That’s exactly what we want to see, right? Looking forward to tomorrow and happy with today.”
“You feel that the wind is going up and down, very gusty. The track is also very bumpy, so the cars can easily approach you at high speed. In such a qualifying you have to leave some margins here and there. Nevertheless, I think this has been another very good day for us.”
With Norris going from second and Piastri third, Verstappen says keeping both behind on the opening lap could be crucial as it is difficult to defend at the first corner of COTA.
“Just try to have a good start,” he said. “It’s also a wide Turn 1. I hope we have a good pace in the race, but we’ll find out tomorrow. [The McLaren threat is] a big one. I mean, they’re super fast. We know that normally they go a step further in the race, so it will be tough.”
Although the Dutchman was unhappy with aspects of his car’s handling in FP1 on Friday, he says Red Bull made the right changes during the qualifying session to give him a car he was confident in.
“It was just a matter of fine-tuning, and also understanding the track,” he said. “We came back and the track became even bumpier and that makes it very difficult to drive at times. We made some small adjustments to the car and in qualifying it was a little bit better.
“You go through the compound and you go into the soft side, and in the last run you only have to go for it once. It was good; it was good – good to be first. It’s close, and I expect that to be the case tomorrow as well.”
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