Verstappen suffers setback: 'Huge blow'

"That was a mistake of mine trying to put it on the limit and I had to abort the lap," Verstappen also put his hand in his own heart. Then Leclerc made sure the reigning world champion did not get a second chance. "Then you rely on a little bit of luck of course if there is going to be a red flag. That can happen on a street circuit, I'm just a bit upset with myself. The whole weekend went well and now you are ninth, which is not where we want to be and not where we need to be."

What went wrong in Verstappen's first flying lap in the final qualifying session? "I had a very small moment coming out of turn five. That didn't matter too much yet, but I then came too wide on the outside of turn seven/eight. There is very little grip there and then I went off the track," he explained about the slip.

Verstappen now faces a catch-up race in Miami. The RB19 is fast enough, but starting from P9 will be a lot harder than planned. "The speed is good, of course. I really have to work on it though to still be able to win, tremendously crappy," he told Viaplay.