Max Verstappen has rued a small mistake in qualifying that sees the Dutchman start tomorrow’s sprint race from second on the grid.
Max Verstappen
“We were working with pretty tricky conditions today and I locked up into turn eight which cost me pole today. It’s just difficult out there and you have to see how far you can push, but you don’t want to make any big mistakes that can be costly. Tomorrow is looking good but in these conditions anything can happen. We are still up there at the front which is the most important thing. Let’s see how competitive we are going to be tomorrow in the race, we have no clue what will happen with the weather but that always makes Interlagos so special for everyone. Well done to Kevin and the Haas team today, I hope they enjoy every moment.”
Sergio Perez
“It was an unfortunate qualifying. I was held up by Leclerc and Ferrari. It was very clear to me that he was too slow on the inter on the outlap and I thought he was going to pit. I was expecting him to box and go onto the slicks. Instead, he stayed in front of me and I had to finish my lap just behind him, that meant I lost too much time. We will never know where I could have finished, top three should have been possible today but instead we finished P9 and I am super disappointed with the result. We will try hard tomorrow to try to recover and get into the points.”
Christian Horner
“Firstly, well done to Kevin Magnussen and Haas on pole. Conditions were tough, the rain was all around us throughout Q1, Q2 & Q3 but the guys did a good job of navigating their way through to Q3. Unfortunately, a small mistake at turn 8 cost Max a bit of time but nevertheless, being on the front row is very positive for the sprint race. Checo was unlucky, Charles was out on a set of inters and I think Checo was expecting him to come into the pits but he stayed out. This compromised Checo’s lap but I’m sure he can race well from there tomorrow, so it promises to be a very exciting Grand Prix weekend.”