Verstappen jokes about Hamilton's contract: 'I'll stop in two years too'

Max Verstappen has been master of the Red Bull Ring all weekend, even more so than a week ago. Yet pole position almost slipped out of his hands at the last minute. It ended well, but Verstappen was not happy with his performance afterwards.

The Dutchman criticised the team's choice to go first on the track for his final attempt in Q3. Normally it's nice to drive in the open air, but at the Red Bull Ring the slipstream had more effect than both Verstappen and his team had expected.

"This was still enough for pole, but I'm not going to cheer. With a really good lap you're at something like 98 percent of a perfect lap. And now? I think something like 80 percent," the championship leader told De Telegraaf. Despite some uncertainty about tyre life, he is confident about Sunday. "The start and the first lap. We have to get through that and then normally we should be fine."

Verstappen thinking about his future, not Hamilton's

He could open up a big gap this weekend to Lewis Hamilton, who qualified only fourth. For the time being, however, the Brit will continue to battle, as he announced today that he will continue with Mercedes for two more years, during which time he will undoubtedly sharpen his records. "For me it doesn't matter one bit, haha. I think I'll go on for two more years myself and then I'll quit, right?", jokes Verstappen about that news.