Verstappen would have preferred to start further back: 'That's not ideal'
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A pole position was not on the cards for Max Verstappen in Las Vegas, but he will start from the front row next to pole-sitter Charles Leclerc. Still, the Dutchman would not have minded starting one more spot towards the back in Sunday's Formula 1 race, he said after qualifying.
Verstappen starts on the wrong side in Las Vegas
Thanks to Carlos Sainz's controversial grid penalty, Verstappen was promoted from P3 to P2 on the starting grid. Still, the front row of the grid is not necessarily ideal in this case, even though you are on the inside line at P2. "I think it's a bit like Austin when it was the first race there, it was also very bad on the inside, so that's not ideal" explained the Red Bull Racing driver.
He continued: "I was actually hoping maybe to be P4 because then I wouldn't be promoted to P3 but that's how it goes. I mean, we'll just deal with it. Luckily, the run-to-turn one is not too bad but if you have a bad start, you can still lose a lot of positions, so we'll work with that tomorrow."
About the strategy for the F1 race, Verstappen did not want to say much yet. "It depends. I mean, honestly, I don't even think about it too much. You just ease yourself into the race and when you see opportunities, you go for it. If they're not there, then you maximise what you have. That's what we'll try to do tomorrow/today. Yesterday, I think the long runs looked good so hopefully, that will be the same in the race," said the three-time world champion.