Max Verstappen, the Dutch driver from Red Bull Racing, confessed that he was surprised by his “terrible lap” during the third segment of qualifying (SQ3). Despite his poor performance, Verstappen managed to secure pole position for the next Sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix. Surprisingly, he was behind Lando Norris from McLaren in the first two segments, but improved significantly with the soft tires to claim the top spot, overtaking Charles Leclerc. Verstappen, however, admitted that his pole lap was not ideal in terms of balance in his Red Bull car, describing it as “pretty terrible.” He expressed his dissatisfaction with the driving experience and the difficulty of getting the tires to work properly. Despite his reservations, Verstappen acknowledged that he will gladly accept the pole position, even though it was not a pleasant experience to drive under those circumstances.
Verstappen’s confidence in his Red Bull car was initially high after setting the fastest time in the only practice session at the Miami International Circuit. However, his confidence waned when he returned to the track for qualifying (SQ1), where he was 0.255 seconds behind Norris. He admitted that qualifying did not go as expected, considering his good performance in practice. Nevertheless, he managed to secure the top spot, although he did not know what happened with the other cars on the final lap.
Red Bull missed the chance to occupy the front row, as Leclerc from Ferrari, who had a spin in the first practice session (FP1) causing a red flag, managed to surpass Sergio Perez and claim second place.
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