Verstappen after qualifying: 'I'm only looking at McLaren'

Verstappen did not start the F1 weekend in Las Vegas on the front foot. The Dutchman struggled with his RB20 and seemed to be much slower than McLaren, Ferrari and also Mercedes. But now that Verstappen will start ahead of Norris - the Briton starts from P6 - he has only one task left: to finish ahead of the McLaren driver.

Verstappen: 'I just have to watch McLaren'

After the race, Verstappen indicated that once again, he got the maximum out of it. "There is not enough speed in it at the moment. That's obviously because we are short on the straights with our wing," Verstappen revealed to Viaplay. "And we don't have the grip either, so then with Mercedes, Ferrari and even Alpine it becomes a difficult story," he added.

Verstappen then looked optimistically in the world title fight. "The most important thing is that we are ahead of McLaren. I have to look at that, of course. There wasn't a single mistake on my own lap, but clearly there wasn't more in it. We'll see what it brings tomorrow. I have no idea how good we are in the long runs. As long as the tyres stay in one piece," Verstappen said of his battle with Norris.

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton