Verstappen relieved of pole position: 'We had so much margin'

Max Verstappen will start Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix from the first position. Afterwards, the Dutchman was very satisfied with that performance, although he let Viaplay know that he still expects plenty of competition in the race.

"Qualifying went well," he analyzed afterwards. "In the last practice we had some problems with the tire temperature, but in qualifying, we had a good run. The conditions were tricky, so we had to try to stay calm and not make any mistakes."

Although Verstappen set an excellent time in Q3, he had to wait and see if the competition would go over that performance. Carlos Sainz ultimately failed to beat Verstappen. "We had so much margin that it was good enough in the end," the world championship front-runner stated with relief.

According to Verstappen, however, it is not a foregone conclusion that he will take victory on Sunday. The driver expects the competition to work hard to make things difficult for him, so he wants to be as sharp as possible at the start.