After weeks of grumpiness and disappointment, there was finally something to celebrate for Red Bull. Max Verstappen raced to the sprint pole in Austin and defeated his title rival Lando Norris on the track. The RB20 looked stable and reliable for the first time in a while, but it is still not enough for Verstappen.
“It was a positive day,” Verstappen told F1TV after sprint qualifying. “From the first lap the car was in a good working window. I felt very comfortable, I could easily attack the high-speed corners. I think we were quite fast there. Sprint qualifying is always tricky, because you first have to the mediums and then to the softs. So you only have one round, so to speak.
Verstappen has a logical explanation for the latter: “You have to leave some margin, but that was doable. Looking at the lap, we still have some balance problems. But we are ahead of the others, so I think that is positive.”
Yet Verstappen is not yet confident about a good starting position for the rest of the weekend: “I think Lewis also made a big mistake, otherwise he would have just stood by. I am happy (with the performance, ed.), but I also realize that there are a lot of fast cars around me.” Verstappen makes no secret of the fact that the development of Red Bull’s updates is not over yet: “The car must become stable again and be good on the tires in the race. That is the key to success for us.”
