Verstappen: "That will make it more difficult, even if you have more pace"
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Max Verstappen had a great chance to take pole position, but a mistake on his final flying lap meant he could not defend his spot against the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Indeed, like the pole position, P3 is on the racing line, which may ensure a higher level of grip at the start. This may allow Verstappen to make an attempt to immediately split the Ferrari. Whether there is indeed an advantage, the Red Bull Racing driver cannot answer, as he has not had the chance to make a practice start.
Verstappen speaks of messy weekend
"That just sums up my weekend: it's just been incredibly messy. We just make it super difficult for ourselves," said Verstappen at the press conference post-qualifying session. Friday's problems caused him to miss out on not only track experience, but also standard stuff like test starts and practicing pit stops.
Given the lack of experience on the track, the Dutchman is therefore happy to be competitive in the RB18, but the fact that there are two Ferraris in front of him does not make it any easier. "It will make it in general a bit more difficult, even if you have more pace," he continued.
In addition, there are still a number of question marks surrounding the Miami Grand Prix. For example, no one has really driven a long run yet according to Verstappen, and since this is a new circuit there is very little information available anyway. "So, there's still a lot of question marks. But of course, I would have preferred to start a little bit ahead," the world champion concludes.