Verstappen sees room for improvement at Red Bull: 'Need to fix'

"It was actually better than expected," said an upbeat Verstappen in conversation with Viaplay. After a less-than-smooth start to the weekend, in which Red Bull Racing struggled to get the balance right, pole position came as a welcome surprise for the reigning world champion.

Room for improvement at Red Bull

"But at the end of the day, there are still a few things we need to fix before next weekend," he added. "Things that are on both cars but don't quite match each other, when they should actually be the same part in terms of performance. Those are the kind of things we do need to look at."

Asked how he managed to be the strongest in qualifying after a somewhat more difficult start to the weekend, Verstappen replied: "I don't think it's suddenly very successful now, you just try to make the best of it. The balance in itself is slightly better than the past sessions, but it's still not how I want it to be. There's definitely still some margin there."

As for his expectations for the race and who can challenge him in it, Verstappen is clear. "The closest one so far in terms of race pace was Aston Martin. They are fortunately starting a bit further back compared to, say, P3, but we just have to concentrate on ourselves and make the most of it," said the two-time world champion.