Despite settling for second place, Max Verstappen firmly believes he had the potential to secure pole position in the United States. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t complete the final run,” he expressed following the qualification.
Verstappen was performing well when George Russell’s Mercedes veered off the track, abruptly ending the session. While Russell remained unharmed, the other drivers, including Verstappen, had to abort their final Q3 run. “At least we’re on the front row, even though there was potentially more to achieve,” he added.
The Dutch driver pointed to his strong final run in Q3. His second-place finish was due to the first run, where Lando Norris proved slightly faster. However, Verstappen didn’t seem too disappointed. “We’re competitive, the changes we’ve implemented feel good. Hopefully, that will also be the case in the race,” he stated.
On Friday, Verstappen proved to be the fastest in the RB20 during the qualification for the sprint race. He then converted that pole position into a victory on Saturday. This win also gave him a two-point lead over Norris in the battle for the world title.
