Max Verstappen was just completely satisfied after the exciting qualifying for the F1 Grand Prix of Australia. The Red Bull Racing driver qualified in P2 while rival Charles Leclerc took pole position by almost three tenths. Sergio Perez and Lando Norris form the second row on the renewed Albert Park Circuit.
Charles Leclerc takes pole position F1 Grand Prix Australia in game for thousandths
The Dutchman seems to be looking for the right adjustment of the RB18, according to Verstappen it is about small things. The qualifying gap to Ferrari is three tenths of a second and this was a bitter pill for the current F1 world champion.
Despite his second place, Max was not completely satisfied after qualifying. “I haven’t felt very good in the car all weekend so far,” he says afterwards. “It went in all directions. There hasn’t been a single round where I felt really confident. We can’t manage to find a really good balance all weekend. That does not give you the confidence to really push. Of course I’m happy to be second, but as a team we also want more. We are going to try to analyze this.”
The Dutchman indicates that he tried different settings throughout qualifying: “That worked for one corner, but then I blocked again in another. I just couldn’t get it done. That is of course a pity. But that’s actually been the problem all year round. We just have to keep working on that.”
Looking ahead to the race, the Dutchman is confident: “We have to try to improve those little things. Then I’m sure we’ll be in a better position again. I also think today’s gap is not quite it, we just didn’t have a good feeling in the car from our side. In the race everything will stabilize a bit more. So it’s probably fine then. But I also wanted to be at the front in qualifying. But yes, now we have to overtake one car”, Verstappen concludes with a smile.