Max Verstappen has admitted he isn’t expecting “miracles” in Formula 1‘s Australian Grand Prix, despite Red Bull’s “surprise” turnaround landing him third on the grid.
Having laboured to fifth and seventh in the opening two practice hours at the Albert Park Circuit, Verstappen issued a downbeat assessment on Red Bull’s prospects.
However, the team’s overnight changes to the set-up provided an instant improvement to the car in Verstappen’s hands as he placed third in the final practice session.
The Dutchman then capitalised on both McLaren drivers making mistakes on their initial attempts in Q3 to be on provisional pole heading into the last qualifying runs.
But despite bettering his own time, Verstappen was unable to thwart McLaren as Lando Norris led a front-row lockout with over three-tenths in hand over the Red Bull.
Nevertheless, Verstappen was satisfied with Red Bull’s recovery to salvage third, though he acknowledged that the RB21 is still lacking the outright speed of McLaren.
“We had a bit of a tough start,” Verstappen told media including Motorsport Week.
“This has never really been a good track to us I think as well, so it took a bit of time to understand how we can improve the situation, and we did that today.
“I’m quite surprised to be sitting here [in the press conference] after yesterday!
“I felt confident. I felt one with the car. Of course, clearly it was lacking a bit of pace, but overall, happy with the laps in qualifying.
“We were just trying to fine-tune the balance, and the car just came alive a little bit more in general, it was quite OK to drive because it was too slow.
“Today it was a little bit faster, but clearly still not fast enough. But still, to be ahead of Ferrari and Mercedes I think is good for us.”
Red Bull still not on McLaren’s level
Verstappen insisted going into the season-opening event that Red Bull wasn’t competitive enough to rival McLaren based on what had occurred in pre-season testing.
Looking ahead to the race, the reigning F1 champion has reiterated that claim even bearing in mind the strides that Red Bull has made to enhance the RB21’s balance.
“I don’t expect like any kind of miracles about it, I think [our long-run pace] is OK,” Verstappen, who hasn’t been headed in the Drivers’ Championship since 2022, said.
“But I think it’s not on the same level [as McLaren]. I’ll just do my best to see what happens tomorrow.”
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