Miami F1 News: Max Verstappen Explains His "Frustrating" Qualifying Result

Max Verstappen had been placing himself at the top of the timesheet all weekend, but after failing to put down a good flying lap in Q3 of the Miami race weekend, the Dutch driver finished P9 after a surprise red flag caused by Charles Leclerc bringing the session to an end.

Talking to the press after the session, the Red Bull driver explained what went wrong for him:

“Of course, that is unfortunate, but first of all, of course, we didn't do a lap. And that was my fault. But yeah, it was extremely tricky.

“I was a little bit offline out of six into seven, I felt a bit of understeer, and I just couldn't get it back on the line. So I aborted my lap.

“And then of course, you need a bit of luck, hoping that there won't be a red flag. But of course, when you try to think like that, then it happens. So, it's a bit upsetting.

“I mean the whole weekend we have been really quick, my Q2 lap was fast enough even for pole in Q3.

“So, I guess that already says that we have a very quick car. But you need to put it together, and where it matters, we didn't. And that's a bit frustrating for my part.”

After changes to the track in the shape of the shortening of its first two DRS zones, plus the fact that offline is still incredibly low traction even after the track resurface, it's still going to be very difficult to overtake come race day.

This could place Verstappen in an interesting position. But knowing how powerful the DRS advantage is on the RB19, I'm sure it won't take too long for the Dutchman to climb back up the grid. The question is, however: will he catch his teammate, Sergio Perez?

Knowing Checo, and the fact this is (almost) a street circuit, I have a feeling we'll see some incredible driving from the Mexican driver. But if it rains - we're expecting at least a little - this could be a different story with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz in the mix.

Only time will tell.

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