F1 News
Verstappen pessimistic: 'That glosses over the real situation'
Max Verstappen drove to a surprising second place during sprint qualifying in China. For the Dutchman himself, this was also huge surprise, as he had not actually expected to start so far up the grid, as he revealed in an interview with Viaplay.
''After SQ1 and SQ2 it was obviously looking a bit tricky, so to end up on the front row of the grid is much better than expected.'' The lap, which was good enough for second place, did not seem to suffice at first, the current world champion thought. ''When you don't have times, including from other teams, you cross the line and then you think: 'Yeah, that's not really anything to write home about in terms of feeling'. But it was good enough. Overall, the weather kind of disguises the real situation.''
Competitors have the upper hand
Verstappen is worried not only about his own speed, but more importantly about the speed of his rivals. ''In general, I think Ferrari was stronger all weekend. With Mercedes, it's hard to say. But I think for us in the sprint race it will be more looking backwards than forwards,'' Verstappen said.
Lewis Hamilton stormed to P1 breaking the track record in the process with a 1:30.849. It marked his first success with Ferrari. McLaren, had a reality check, disappointing with a third place for Oscar Piastri and a lowly sixth place for Lando Norris.
This article was written in collaboration with Hidde Korte.