By taking pole, Max Verstappen has a perfect starting position for the Japanese Grand Prix – especially if it were to rain in Suzuka. However, the win is far from certain for the Red Bull Racing driver, with McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri right behind him.
Verstappen realizes that a tough Sunday awaits but looks forward to the challenge. “It will be very hard, but that’s fine. I’ll try to do my best,” says the Dutchman at the post qualifying press conference.
“So far this season we have not been able to fight them. But it’s not like we just sit there and accept it. We try to do the very best and we’ll give it a good fight tomorrow if we can.”
Verstappen is mainly focused on maximizing his result in Japan. “At the end of the day, it’s a very long championship and you need to keep on scoring points whenever you can in the best way possible. At least we’re starting from the front – then we’ll see where we go..”
Little to say about Tsunoda
His teammate is unlikely to help Verstappen in the battle against McLaren, with Yuki Tsunoda starting at the back-end of the midfield in his first race for Red Bull. Verstappen refrained from elaborating on his teammate’s performance.
“Honestly, I’ve known Yuki for a long time. He’s been in the Red Bull family. He settled in nicely. He’s a good guy, very chilled. So that all went really well. And I think that’s it for me to comment on.”
