Verstappen happy with performance: 'It was really tough'

Max Verstappen started the race weekend at Zandvoort in a very rough way, but in qualifying he was able to stand his ground. The Dutchman worked hard in his final lap and managed to secure pole position. In the FIA press conference he admits that it was not easy.

Verstappen was forced to retire his car during the first free practice session due to problems with the car. It left Red Bull Racing with far less data to prepare the Dutchman's car for qualifying.

"It was really tough," says Verstappen. "We had to change the car around quite a bit, because we didn't really have any information. So, basically, this morning was still about learning quite a bit of the car and all about just trying to fine tune it a bit towards qualifying."

Verstappen on achieving pole position

Despite this, Verstappen went into qualifying with confidence. During Q1 and Q2 the world championship leader failed to put the fastest time on the board, but in the final session he changed this.

"When I started my lap, I felt like the tyres were not really switched on, but I managed to recover a bit in Sector 2 and that was just enough for pole," said Verstappen, who will start ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on Sunday afternoon.