Verstappen misses out on pole in America: this is what went wrong

For Verstappen, Friday in Austin went well. Verstappen closed the first free practice session with the fastest time and there seemed no problem ahead of qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas. In the first part of qualifying, Verstappen was again fastest, but the margins were not wide.

Whereas Verstappen had enough pace to secure pole with one run several times this season, it soon became clear that he had to fight for it more in Texas. Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes were very close in the corners in the various qualifying sessions and the ever-faster track meant Verstappen could not skip a single run.

Competition hot on Verstappen's heels

Indeed, in Q1 and Q2, Verstappen did not end the session with the fastest time. Each time, another driver was faster. Verstappen did not drive on a new set of tyres or enter the track at the most favourable time every time, but still: the pressure was on.

Not surprisingly, Verstappen could be heard cursing and ranting over the board radio when things went wrong during his first run in Q3. Noted teammate Sergio Perez was in his way at the last corner of his fast lap. How could the team let this go wrong?

In the Viaplay studio, Rudy van Buren and Christijan Albers also expressed their displeasure. According to Van Buren, this was blatantly Red Bull Racing's fault and Albers understood why Verstappen was "pissed off" after qualifying.

What went wrong for Verstappen in America?

Because the first run was not good enough and was two-tenths slower than Leclerc, Verstappen had to get going in run two. However, things already went wrong in the first corner where Verstappen braked. Knowing he had to fix this mistake, he sat on the limit for the rest of the lap.

In the last corner, Verstappen also gave everything and ended up just over the limit. Although the Dutchman is five thousandths faster than the Monegasque, it soon becomes clear that Verstappen's time was not valid. ''It looked like we had pole,'' Christian Horner informed Viaplay afterwards.

Horner assumes a good result is also possible from P6 and Verstappen himself was even more down-to-earth afterwards: ''This makes Sunday a bit more fun.' ' Verstappen will start Sunday's Grand Prix from sixth place. On Saturday, there is first the sprint shootout and sprint race. So another chance for Verstappen to take pole.