Verstappen ‘didn’t expect second on grid’ after disrupted Friday · F1 · RaceFans

Max Verstappen admits he did not expect to be on the front row for the Mexico Grand Prix after a disrupted start to the weekend.

The championship leader secured a front row start for Sunday’s race behind Carlos Sainz Jnr after setting the second fastest time with his final effort in qualifying.

The Red Bull driver had endured a challenging start to the race weekend on Friday after he suffered a recurring power unit problem over the two practice sessions which left him unable to set a timed lap in second practice.

Verstappen says his lack of track time on Friday left him under pressure heading into qualifying, especially around a track naturally as low in grip as Mexico City.

“I think it’s probably one of the hardest tracks to get right,” he said. “Street circuits are difficult and this one as well. Because it’s low downforce, it’s very easy to have a lock up or a slide and then the tyres overheat immediately. So it’s one of the tricky ones on the calendar.

“Naturally yesterday I barely did any laps. So we were playing a lot of catch-up. FP3 was not very good. So I was already, I think, under a lot of pressure to have a good qualifying.”

The championship leader then placed himself under extra pressure at the end of qualifying after his first time in Q3 was deleted for exceeding track limits at turn two. However, he managed to beat closest rival Lando Norris and will start one place ahead of him on the grid.

“Of course my lap time got taken away, so added a little bit more pressure,” he said. “But very happy to be on the front row. I honestly didn’t expect that to be possible.”

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