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Max Verstappen reacts to second place in qualifying

Max Verstappen explains how he lost the pole position to Lando Norris

Today at 00:21
  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

Max Verstappen has explained how he lost out to Lando Norris during qualifying for the United States Grand Prix. The Dutchman will start second but believes it would've been possible to start from the pole without losing time at turn 19. Verstappen was setting a faster lap in the second part of Q3, but had to slow down due to George Russell's crash.

Verstappen explained where he lost time. "On the first lap I lost quite a bit of time at Turn 19. That's unfortunate," the Red Bull driver said after qualifying. The reigning Formula 1 world champion then addressed Russell's yellow-flag situation.

Is Verstappen upset with Russell?

"I knew we had another run but unfortunately I couldn't finish the lap, otherwise we had a good shot but that's how it goes," Verstappen said. "We are still on the front row at least but the potential was there to be first, so that's very good," said the 27-year-old driver looking back on qualifying with satisfaction.

Verstappen was the fastest driver in the sprint race earlier on Saturday. He feels small changes help improve the RB20. "It seemed like we were competitive. We made some minor changes on the car which felt nice, so I hope that's positive for tomorrow," he concluded.

This article has been created in collaboration with Estéban den Toom