After missing out on pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas due to exceeding track limits on his final flying lap, newly minted 2023 World Champion Max Verstappen put his RB19 on pole for the Sprint race and looked untroubled throughout the 19 laps of the Sprint despite an initial challenge from Charles Leclerc into turn one after a strong start off the line. Verstappen has now claimed victory in three out of the five sprints we have had so far this season and was incredibly strong on the bumpy Austin circuit on Saturday evening.
“We had a strong day out there today. It was quite tight at the start with Charles, but after that we could focus on our own race. The pace of the car was really good, a bit better than we expected, and we looked after our tyres quite well. Starting in P6 tomorrow will be interesting. We’ll try and stay out of trouble on the first lap and then we’ll take it step-by-step making our way through the field. Hopefully we can have some fun out there tomorrow.”
Speaking to media after the Sprint race the Dutchman was asked if he felt that he had to work a little bit harder now that the rest of the field isn’t quite as far off the pace at this point in the season:
“It’s difficult to say, every weekend is a little bit different and it depends on the layout of the track as well. I was positively surprised throughout the race that we could pull such a gap because in the beginning Lewis
The current world champion faces a tougher challenge in the Grand Prix, starting well out of position but reckons that the pace he showed on Saturday means he can have a good race and attempt to claim his third Grand Prix victory in Austin.
