Verstappen: “To be honest, I didn’t expect to take pole”

The first pole position of this year Formula 1 conquered with characteristic ease o Max Verstappencontinuing his excellent performances from last season.

The Dutch pilot set a time with his RB20 1:29,179 and prevailed over them Charles Leclerc and George Russell which followed in the qualifying tests. After winning the pole, however, he stated that, despite his joy at having succeeded, he did not expect to finish at the top.

In detail what he said:

To win the pole: “It was a fun qualifying period. The track had enough grip but it was difficult yesterday and today to do a complete lap. As time went on in qualifying the times dropped due to the improved grip on the track, but it was more difficult to get a perfect lap in Q3. I am of course very happy to have taken the pole. To be honest, it wasn’t that expected. But fortunately for us, the car’s performance was improved in qualifying and I was satisfied with its overall behavior.”

On what’s changed for Red Bull Racing between yesterday and today: “We had to make some micro-adjustments to the car in order to find the perfect balance. With the strong wind, however, such a thing was not possible today. But we moved in the right direction today and pushed to take another step forward in qualifying. I think that even in the race the differences will be small. We seem to have a good pace in the race and that is the most important thing. I am convinced that we will have a good fight.”