F1 | Red Bull, Max Verstappen stops in third position: "Happy, but in the race we are closer to Mercedes"

With that best time at the start of Q3 Max Verstappen made us dream and hope in the feat of snatching pole position from the two silver arrows. Unfortunately, however, the low temperatures and the Pirelli tires abruptly interrupted the dreams of the Dutchman, who had to give way to the power of Mercedes, settling, so to speak, for third position. A few thousandths separated him from Lewis Hamilton, while the gap from pole man Valtteri Bottas was greater. Next to Max, tomorrow, there will be Charles Leclerc, but the Dutchman's gaze is obviously already aimed at first position.

"It was a beautiful day and we can only be happy with the second row – however, a satisfied Verstappen commented – Qualifying was interesting and, after missing both free practices yesterday, it was a chaotic day for everyone, but all in all a positive one. The car handled well, everything was very stable. I was comfortable, but obviously there are always some balance details to improve. In Q3, at the decisive moment, I suffered a bit of understeer and when it's cold graining forms on the front tyres, which then wear out, and this made us lose lap time.

“I think we are close to Mercedes, it's positive, it's our goal – continued the Dutchman – we usually get closer in the race, and tomorrow the temperatures will drop further, so it will be interesting to see how the tires behave. It's a really fun circuit, but also a big question for everyone, so we hope it will be an exciting race".