Verstappen praises Red Bull for last-minute "little adjustments" after his unexpected pole position
Having clinched his third pole position of the season, reigning champion Max Verstappen has revealed that Red Bull made little, last-minute tweaks to his RB21 after the sprint race which contributed to his unexpected pole position.
It was a day of extremes for Max Verstappen. The Dutchman was classified last in the Sprint race because of a penalty for an error that was not really his fault. However, he then went on to set the fastest time in qualifying, beating the McLaren of Lando Norris and the Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Verstappen, who has just become a father to baby Lilly, took his third pole of the season, with his best time of 1’26”204 having become a new outright lap record for the Miami International Autodrome circuit.
Reflecting on his third pole position of the season, Verstappen has revealed that Red Bull made little, last-minute tweaks to his RB21 after the sprint race which contributed to his unexpected pole position.
"To achieve pole today was unexpected. We put the lap together and didn’t make too many mistakes so that was really positive. The day didn’t start that well and the Sprint was not good for us.
"There wasn’t much we could do after the penalty, so you just have to refocus and do your best in Qualifying and we went from last to first within the day. We had adjusted the car a little bit beforehand and in each Qualifying session we just chipped away at it a bit more.
"I think we can still improve on the slow speed and I do think that we are not the quickest over a lap but we managed to put it together, which is the most important thing in Qualifying. When you arrive to the track you go to race mode and of course, I’m very happy about achieving pole.
"At the end of the day it is all a Team effort; you have to look at every single detail and we are really trying our best with the car. Looking to tomorrow, in the dry we wouldn’t have that same pace but in the wet a lot of things can happen, but we need to be on it.
"We have some decent pace, but we need to maximise everything that we can. We will see what we can do," concluded the reigning champion.
