F1 News
Verstappen: "I was smiling in the car when I finished my lap!"
Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Aston Martin Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen was positively surprised by his car's performance at the team's home venue in Austria, as the Dutchman qualified in third and even moved up to second because of a Lewis Hamilton penalty.
Heading into the weekend, Verstappen didn't fancy his chances to get anywhere near last year's result at the Red Bull Ring, where the 21-year-old took a great win in front of the thousands of travelling Dutch fans.
He thought sixth or fifth would be a realistic target this year, with the five-time Grand Prix winner admitting his team wasn't close to either Ferrari or Mercedes.
However, in qualifying, Verstappen was lightning quick, setting the best time in Q1 and eventually setting the third best time in Q3. Afterwards, he was ecstatic with the result.
“I’m really happy about qualifying," he said.
"All weekend the car has felt competitive and also from the engine side we have worked really well with Honda to extract a little more power.
"To be third is great and I was smiling in the car when I finished the lap. We definitely got the most out of it today and through the corners we were really quick. To be closer to the pole time is also a great step forwards."
Verstappen even got bumped up to second, meaning he'll start from the first starting row at Red Bull's home race. Verstappen knows he'll have a home advantage.
"As soon as I stopped the car and turned the engine off I could hear the crowd. There are so many Dutch and Austrian Red Bull fans here which gives me a lot of positive energy and motivation."
Looking ahead to tomorrow, Verstappen can't pinpoint where he'll finish, as his long run pace isn't clear to him compared to others.
"I haven’t done a long run but normally we are a little stronger in the race than qualifying. There is a long way to go before we fight for victory but this is a really good start for the Team and we will give it everything we have tomorrow.”
