Verstappen warns competition after pole: 'RB19 in race even better'

Max Verstappen is obviously very pleased with his fastest time in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Red Bull Racing driver had a difficult Friday with some problems and that makes him a bit surprised to be in pole position. He tells that to David Coulthard immediately after exiting the RB19 afterwards.

"Hopefully he was watching. I'm pretty sure he was watching," Verstappen laughed when reminded that father Jos was celebrating his birthday today. "It was a difficult start this weekend. It was difficult to find the rhythm yesterday. In qualifying, we managed to put the pieces of the puzzle in the right place. I'm happy with pole position and happy for the whole team."

Six different teams managed to make Q3 and the differences between them were not as big as last year. Verstappen had seen that coming a bit. "Compared to last year, everyone knows a bit better what they are doing with the car, so it is somewhat logical that it becomes more competitive. The regulations have meant that we have had to take steps back in terms of speed, but we are still faster. That's obviously top to see."

RB19 strong in longruns

The 25-year-old driver had not immediately factored in the front starting spot at the Bahrain International Circuit. "I was actually quite surprised to be on pole, after the problems of the free practice sessions. That's positive," said Verstappen, who immediately warned the competition about speed at the Grand Prix: "Our race car is normally better."