Max Verstappen delighted to secure Sprint pole position in front of ‘basically home fans’

Max Verstappen shared his joy in clinching Sprint Pole Position in front of thousands of the 'Orange Army' at the Red Bull Ring.

Max Verstappen delighted to secure Sprint pole position in front of ‘basically home fans’

Max Verstappen (Via: Imago)

The Austrian GP weekend is underway. Max Verstappen and Red Bull headed into the team’s home race after an impressive victory in Barcelona. However, the reigning world champions were aware of the stiff competition from McLaren. Nevertheless, Verstappen managed to take pole position for the Sprint race.

Max Verstappen seemed to be nowhere near the McLaren drivers at the closing stages of the session. Oscar Pastri and Lando Norris had almost locked the front row. However, the reigning champion’s incredible lap allowed him to clinch the pole. Verstappen was delighted to have such a result in front of Red Bull home fans, as thousands of the ‘Orange army’ cheer for him just like he is in the Dutch GP.

It's great to be here infront of basically my home fans and my home Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen said

The Dutch driver mentioned that he loved coming to the Red Bull Ring every year, which is also his team’s home Grand Prix. Max Verstappen claimed that he had a great day at the track, with a car that seemed to be perfectly balanced for the conditions.The three-time world champion proclaimed that everything had gone well for the team on Friday.

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It's always great to be first here. I was a good day so far. The car was well balanced. Everything has been going really well.
Max Verstappen stated

Max Verstappen claims he ‘ran out of tires’ during Sprint Qualifying

The Sprint Qualifying session saw the top teams battle it out for pole position. Max Verstappen pushed his RB20 to the limit as teammate Sergio Perez seemed to be nowhere close to the Dutch driver. Although, Red Bull was ahead of the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes throughout the session.

Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)
Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Max Verstappen admitted that he might’ve gone too hard on his out lap during his final SQ3 run. This took away some performance from his tires for his lap. However, Verstappen claimed that it was all good as he managed to take pole position nonetheless. 

I think the outlap was a bit too quick. So, I ran out of tyres, but all good.
Max Verstappen explained

Certainly, Max Verstappen’s result is a positive sign for Red Bull. The Dutch driver is still able to extract maximum performance out of the RB20 despite facing stiffer competition every weekend. It will be crucial for Verstappen and his team to convert this result into a Sprint victory on Saturday.

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