Verstappen Stunned by Pole Despite “Horrible” Lap

04/05/2024

Despite a self-declared “horrible” lap, Max Verstappen clinched pole in the Miami F1 Sprint, puzzled by his rivals’ performance.

Max Verstappen did not expect to find himself in pole position for the Miami F1 Sprint. The Red Bull driver made several mistakes during his lap and anticipated being overtaken by several rivals, yet he was pleased with how the RB20 felt under his control.

“To be honest, my lap was horrible. I don’t know, maybe it was hard to put everything together. It was already tough in SQ2, I improved in SQ3, and I felt good behind the wheel, I was comfortable,” the three-time world champion stated.

Lando Norris recorded the fastest time in the first two parts of the Sprint Shootout, while the Ferraris also seemed to have good potential. With his errors, Verstappen was convinced he would be behind several drivers, even though he was confident before the qualifying session.

“I don’t know, maybe the track layout plays a part. I was confident of competing for pole after Free Practice, but as the qualifying session progressed, I didn’t think it would happen. But here we are, I don’t know what happened to the other teams on that lap.”

Sergio Perez recorded the third fastest time behind Charles Leclerc, and he lamented not being able to make better use of the soft tire, which did not perform as well as hoped in this qualifying sprint.

“I think given that there’s only one fast lap on this soft tire, it’s a bit of luck to know what the car will do, and there’s no progression,” the Mexican commented. “I think we were a bit caught off guard.”

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t ideal, so we have work to do, but I hope we can sort it out tomorrow. The most important thing these days is to score points, the maximum points tomorrow in the Sprint, and then to focus on the race.”

However, he remains confident about the rest of the weekend: “I think we’ve taken the right direction, especially for tomorrow, so I hope we will have a better race pace and that we can compete.”

Verstappen Stunned by Pole Despite Horrible Lap

Verstappen Stunned by Pole Despite “Horrible” Lap. Verstappen Stunned by Pole Despite “Horrible” Lap

Race Center
China Flag
Chinese GP
21 Mar 2025 - 23 Mar 2025
Free Practice 1
21 MAR 03:30 - 04:30
Sprint Qual
21 MAR 07:30 - 08:14
Sprint Race
22 MAR 03:00 - 04:00
Qualifying
22 MAR 07:00 - 08:00
Race
23 MAR 07:00 - 09:00

2025 F1 Australian Grand Prix - Race Results

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
57
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
+0.895s
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
+8.481s
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
+12.773s
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
+15.135s
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
+17.413s
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
+18.423s
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
+19.826s
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
+20.448s
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
+22.473s
Pierre Gasly
11
PIERRE
GASLY
+26.502s
Yuki Tsunoda
12
YUKI
TSUNODA
+29.884s
Esteban Ocon
13
ESTEBAN
OCON
+33.161s
Oliver Bearman
14
OLIVER
BEARMAN
+40.351s
Liam Lawson
15
LIAM
LAWSON
47 DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto
16
GABRIEL
BORTOLETO
47 DNF
Fernando Alonso
17
FERNANDO
ALONSO
34 DNF
Carlos Sainz
18
CARLOS
SAINZ
0 DNF
Jack Doohan
19
JACK
DOOHAN
0 DNF
Isack Hadjar
20
ISACK
HADJAR
0 DNF
F1 CALENDAR 2025
Race
Date
Chinese Flag
Chinese
Shanghai International
23 Mar
Japanese Flag
Japanese
Suzuka Circuit
6 Apr
Bahrain Flag
Bahrain
Sakhir desert
13 Apr
Saudi Arabia Flag
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street
20 Apr
United States Flag
United States
Miami
04 May

2025 FORMULA 1 DRIVERS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
25 Points
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
18
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
15
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
12
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
10
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
8
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
6
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
4
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
2
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
1

2025 FORMULA 1 CONSTRUCTORS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

1
McLaren
27
2
Mercedes
25
3
Red Bull
18
4
Williams
12
5
Aston Martin
8
6
Sauber
6
7
Ferrari
5
8
Alpine F1
0
9
Haas F1
0
10
Racing Bulls
0
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