Verstappen realistic: "If all goes well we are within seven-tenths of Mercedes"

For Max Verstappen, the result from qualifying offers good hope for the race on Sunday. From the second row of the grid, the Dutchman can start on the hardest tyre, because he used this tyre in the second part of qualifying. He will start Sunday behind both Mercedes and Nico Hulkenberg's Racing Point. 

"I just wasn’t sure which tyre was the fastest, so we gave both of them a try. In hindsight, I didn’t drive a lot because I only did like four laps in qualifying so I never really had a good reference which tyre is the fastest, so I didn’t think we did the best job there. There is definitely something to learn there", let Verstappen know in Red Bull Racing's online press moment.

Seven-tenths off Mercedes

"Maybe in Q3 that’s why we just couldn’t get it right, because the car was not that bad. Realistically if we did a better preparation, we could have been within seven-tenths of Mercedes and that is not bad. We just made a few errors which we will learn from and try to do better", according to the Dutchman. He will start next Sunday behind the Racing Point of Hulkenberg, while that car causes a lot of discussions.

The FIA penalised the team for taking over the brakes of Mercedes, which is against the sporting rules according to the FIA. Other teams think that it is also against the technical regulations and therefore they have appealed against the punishment given. Verstappen doesn't care much about it and just wants to keep it at racing. "I’m not an aero guy and I’m not into designing parts, I don't want to be involved in that discussion", said Verstappen