Verstappen 'finally' satisfied again: 'Felt right'

Friday started unpleasantly for Max Verstappen after he stalled with an engine problem during the first free practice session. Fortunately, Verstappen was able to roll back after the pit lane and then continue his way. As it turned out, Verstappen only had a sensor problem, so the engine did not need to be replaced.

Verstappen very happy after pole position

Verstappen closed practice still fastest, before also clocking the fastest time in sprint qualifying: "A positive day to be honest. I'm happy we started off the day well. The car was already in a good window. A little niggle with the sensor, but we fixed that quickly."

"And then heading into qualifying, I think the car was pretty strong. I could push. Of course, there will always be areas where we can do better, so we'll look at that tonight. But yeah, definitely a good start to the weekend."

Asked how the car feels and what kind of threat McLaren will pose, Verstappen said: "Everyone is pushing flat out, they are again behind me. So for sure, they're quick as well. And we seem quick in the high speed, which of course is nice around here. Hopefully, we can keep that going also tomorrow. But of course, the sprint race will give us an early indication of how the pace will be in the race for every car. So I'm looking forward to that," concluded Verstappen.