Qualifying for the Formula 1 Monaco GP, held this Saturday (6), ended with a better-than-expected result for Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver secured a place on the front row of the starting grid and highlighted the team’s evolution throughout Saturday, after facing car setup problems during FP3.
Read more F1: FIA investigates and summons some drivers after qualifying session
The four-time champion admitted he didn’t expect to be so close to pole position after the difficulties encountered in previous sessions. Verstappen was just 0.043s behind Kimi Antonelli and considered the performance a very positive result given the scenario faced by the team.
“If you had told me yesterday that I would be on the front row, I would have accepted it immediately. This morning we had some difficulties with the car, so to get to qualifying and be up there was extremely positive,” he stated.
“I am extremely happy with how qualifying went, with all the laps I managed to do, even having to deal with traffic and also the walls. I’m happy to be on the front row and tomorrow we’ll see what happens at the start,” he added.
Read more F1: Hamilton cites «drastically different» car in Monaco qualifying
Despite the good result on Saturday, the Red Bull driver expects a challenging start to the race. Verstappen recalled that current cars require a lot of care in the starting procedure and highlighted the presence of Ferraris right behind him on the grid. “These cars are quite tricky to start. I have two cars behind me that usually start very well, but we’ll see,” he said.
At the end of the session, the Dutchman reinforced his satisfaction with the performance achieved, especially considering the problems faced earlier. “It was a good day and I really enjoyed qualifying,” he concluded.
Read more F1: Antonelli secures pole in Monaco after duel with Verstappen; Bortoleto crashed
