Max Verstappen warned his rivals that “qualifying is not our strongest point” after claiming pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix.
The reigning world champion came out on top in a very close battle with the two Ferraris at the Red Bull Ring, as less than 0.1s covered the three drivers.
Mercedes too had also looked like a threat before both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell crashed in Q3.
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Speaking after he claimed his third straight pole at Spielberg though, Verstappen was more optimistic looking ahead to Saturday’s Sprint.
“We have a great car,” he said.
“Let’s say that qualifying is not our strongest point so I just hope to have a clean Turn 1, a good getaway and from there onward, anything can happen
“But I feel confident with the car we have.”
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Verstappen had dropped to third at one point in the final moments of Q3 and hadn’t improved on his first and second sector times on his last lap. But a personal best final sector was enough to get the job done.
And the Dutchman admitted the two red flags caused by the Mercedes crashes were not ideal.
“It was a very long wait between the two runs and that is never great,” he explained. “Once you are in a rhythm it is just nice to keep on going.
“Also, the track temperature was dropping, the wind was changing a little bit but at the end, it was a very tight qualifying and it is a really challenging track as well to get everything right.
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“There are not that many corners but the corners you have are tricky and it is easy to make a mistake.
“Of course, I am very happy with pole, but I also know that tomorrow and Sunday you can get the points.”