Max Verstappen feels a spot on the front row of the Mexican Grand Prix grid was possible during qualifying at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
The Dutch driver set the pace in third practice and looked strong through the first two qualifying sessions, as Red Bull closed the gap to Mercedes.
However, he didn’t get a lap together when it counted in Q3 and had to settle for third place, just ahead of his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
Verstappen and Ricciardo will start on the super-soft tyres, having used those in Q2 to make it through to the final session, while the Mercedes duo will start on the softs.
“You have to be realistic in Q2, because some of the other guys were on soft tyres,” he said.
“But in general, you know, the qualifying felt good. I had a good feeling with the car, actually, all weekend.
“It was behaving pretty well. It was getting better and better, it was just a shame in Q3 that we couldn’t really get the lap together, otherwise I think P2 was definitely possible.
“But we are not too far behind and we have a different strategy for tomorrow as well, so it will be interesting.”
