Why a positive feeling prevails for Verstappen after missing out on pole

"I was a good amount up, but already my first lap in Q3, I missed turn 19. So I don' t know what happened there. I just turned in and was a bit late, tried to carry a bit more speed. But then, of course, when you're late, you end up really wide, so I had to downshift one more time. So I lost quite a bit of lap time there," Verstappen said.

"That would have already been enough for pole. So I knew there was time to find for free on the second lap. Never really got to that corner. That happens in qualifying. It’s not always in your control. I think, in general, though, for us, this whole weekend so far has been a lot more positive. We could at least fight for pole, and that has been a while."

How Red Bull can compete for pole again

Verstappen is, therefore, not disappointed: "I'm not frustrated. I mean, this just happens in qualifying." Before the race, Verstappen also made some adjustments with his team. "I felt quite decent today [Saturday]. We made a few changes on the car, and hopefully that will help again for the race. And then hopefully we can try and do the same."

Verstappen hasn't won a Grand Prix since June and last time out, Verstappen was beaten by nearly 21 seconds. In the press conference, Verstappen was asked how Red Bull Racing has managed to turn the tide since the last Grand Prix held in Singapore.

"Frst of all Singapore has never been a good track for us, all the low speed corners and the bumps, our car just doesn't really work on that, so it's a very different track layout. Plus I think we made the car more stable so you can attack corners a bit better and that then also helps the tyres out a bit, so I think that has been the main improvement."

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton