To reach Texas, ad Austin victory number fifty in his career, a very important achievement in the aftermath of the victory of third title in Qatar, it's strange to say it, but Max Verstappen will have to fight. His last qualifying lap in Q3 was in fact fouled by an error that took him outside the limits of the track. This resulted in time being erased. Max was then downgraded to sixth position leaving the lead to Leclerc. The Monegasque will have to contend with Lando Norris on the front row. Immediately behind, Hamilton and Sainz are trembling. Max will have to recover positions if he wants to win his 50th victory in America. At the end of the session the Dutchman came out of the car disappointed to say the least. We too always find it difficult to see him in difficulty. But let's see Verstappen's immediate words after qualifying in Austin.
The mistake in qualifying costs him dearly
“The margins are very thin when you push the limit. Unfortunate end to qualifying, but we'll keep pushing for the rest of the #USGP weekend @redbullracing 👊” this is the message with which Max Verstappen wanted to wish everyone goodnight, via social.
“I knew I was at my limit – says Max Verstappen in Austin, in the post-qualifying interviews on Sky Sport's microphones I had made a small mistake in Turn 1 and therefore had to push harder for the rest of the lap. These are very narrow margins. Honestly, there wasn't even any understeer, I just tried to make the most of the corner and I was wrong in my assessment for a very short time. They are minimal margins and when you push to the limit it's a bit unfortunate. "
The mistake in Q3 took him off track, but if that hadn't been the case he would certainly have given us an impressive lap. In fact, we know what the RB19 and Max Verstappen are capable of together. A perfect combination. The fact that they are made for each other and vice versa can be seen in the comparison between Max Verstappen and Perez. At the end of qualifying in Austin Perez only qualified ninth, another difficult start for the Mexican who was one step away from being fired. The gap between the two always remains in a range of 4 to 7 tenths more or less.
The sprint weekend offers many points even if they are not the ones that matter to Max who has already overtaken everyone by bringing the mathematical victory of the title to its conclusion in Qatar. However, the Dutchman craves victory number fifty.
