Max Verstappen has highlighted a mistake at Turn 19 and a late red flag as the two moments that denied him pole position at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
Verstappen, who managed proceedings to win the earlier Sprint race, appeared imperious at the Circuit of the Americas as he headed the initial two qualifying stages.
However, the Dutchman was usurped once the all-important Q3 shootout arrived as McLaren’s Lando Norris delivered a stunning lap to end up 0.031 seconds quicker.
Verstappen, though, was on track to improve when he posted the fastest opening sector on his second attempt when George Russell shunted at the penultimate turn.
But while he’s admitted that cost him the chance to bag top spot, Verstappen has revealed that an error at the same corner that caught Russell out also impacted him.
“I was a good amount up, but already my first step in Q3 I missed Turn 19,” Verstappen recalled.
“I don’t know what happened there. I just turned in and probably a bit late, tried to carry a bit more speed. But then, of course, when you’re late, you end up really wide.
“So I had to downshift one more time. So I lost quite a bit of lap time there. That would have already been enough for pole.
“So I knew that the second lap, you know, it was, yeah, there was time to find for free. But yeah, never really got to that corner.
“So I mean, that happens, you know, it’s not always in your control.
“I think in general, though, for us this whole weekend so far has been a lot more positive. We could at least fight for pole and that has been a while.”
He added: “I’m overall happy. I’m not frustrated. I mean, this just happens in qualifying.”
Verstappen hopeful on COTA race
Verstappen’s success in the Sprint represented his first win since he was victorious in the truncated format race in Austria back in June amid Red Bull’s recent trouble.
The reigning F1 champion has expressed that he’s even more optimistic about Red Bull’s prospects with the set-up changes that it has made for the 56-lap encounter.
“I mean, I felt quite decent today,” he addressed.
“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.”
Red Bull improvements
Verstappen’s return to challenging at the top comes amid Red Bull having brought upgrades to Austin intended to improve the balance issues that derailed its season.
Asked about the main improvement those new parts have helped to deliver, Verstappen disclosed how he has rediscovered the confidence to push the car to the limit.
“I mean, first of all, Singapore has never been a good track for us,” he highlighted.
“All the low speed and corners and the bumps. Our car just doesn’t really work on that.
“So it’s a very different track layout. Plus, I think we made the car more stable so you can attack corners a bit better.
“And that then also helps, I think, the tyres out a bit. So I think that has been the main improvement.”
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