Max qualifies sixth for US Grand Prix: ‘Bit unfortunate’
Max Verstappen enters Sunday’s United States Grand Prix sixth.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took the lead of the session ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), with Max leading briefly. However, the Dutchman’s fastest effort was denied by a track boundary violation at the final corner.
“I knew lap 19 was going to be difficult,” said Max after qualifying.
“I made a small mistake in the first corner and had to push for the rest of the lap.
Margins are small.
There was no understeer and I tried to maximize the turns but made a bit of a misjudgment.
“It was a bit embarrassing but it made Sunday racing exciting.”
The titles in the first two qualifying rounds improved the track conditions, with the track proving to be the fastest in the final minutes of the session. At the front, Max, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc maintained their top three positions at the end of the first quarter. At the back of the field, the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were joined by Hulkenberg (Haas) and Williams duo Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant in fifth last.
In Q2, Alfa Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo joined the two Alfa Romeos of Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas, while Haas’ Kevin Magnussen finished in the top five despite missing the final round qualification.
Up front, Leclerc leads Max and Hamilton in an exciting pole battle.
In the final part of the check, Max sets the first marker. The Dutchman was not entirely happy with the end of the lap and told his team that his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez was too close as the defending champion took the final two corners.
In any case, Max’s first attempt was quickly bettered by both Leclerc and Hamilton.
Leclerc starts the game first and is the first leader to start the last flying lap.
Improves previous behavior and fixes temporary poles. Max soon climbed to the top of the standings and looked set to take his 11th pole position of the year.
Unfortunately for the Red Bull driver, he exceeded the track limit 19 times, resulting in an abandoned lap.
The Monegasque took the lead in Sunday’s Grand Prix, with Lando Norris and Hamilton chasing Leclerc in the closing laps, with Max finishing sixth.
