Verstappen surprised by high top speed Mercedes: "Won't be easy"

Max Verstappen will start the Grand Prix of Austria Sunday afternoon from third place. Prior to qualifying that was a reasonable position to expect, but the gap to Mercedes is still worryingly large. Although Verstappen is always optimistic, he has to acknowledge that.

"Mercedes was just too fast," he said Saturday night talking to Jack Plooij of Ziggo Sport. "We made the best of it, but of course that half second was a little too much. The balance wasn't quite right and I was quite surprised that they had a bit more top speed. But don't panic, it's the first qualifying session and those other tyres will give us opportunities for tomorrow".

In the second half of the race in particular, he hopes to be able to grab his winnings if he can initially drive for longer and then continue on the soft tyre, while the competition rides on the medium. But he probably won't be able to outshine the Mercedes as he did last year with playful ease.