Max Verstappen has contested that the wet conditions during qualifying for Formula 1‘s Las Vegas Grand Prix were “a little bit too much”.
The racing gods opened the heavens over the Las Vegas Strip Circuit right in time for qualifying on Friday night.
With the rain pelting down on the resurfaced street circuit, conditions were far from ideal, prompting Q1 and Q2 to be run on the blue-walled Wet tyres.
Despite some scares, especially into Turn 14 and through the subsequent chicane, Verstappen put his RB21 right alongside Lando Norris for the Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Dutchman has gained quite a reputation for his mastery in the rain – evidenced by his storming charge from 17th to the race win at a soaking Interlagos last year.
That said, the treacherous conditions at Vegas were too treacherous, even for the four-time F1 champion.
“Yeah, it was super slippery with the track. It felt like ice. Yeah, it’s not a lot of fun to do,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“I mean, I love driving in the wet, but this, for me, is a little bit too much, I would say. Yeah, you just have to be super careful.
“Honestly, I was surprised that there were not too many incidents, so everyone was behaving, I think, quite well, or scared!”
Trailing Norris by 49 points going into the final three rounds, Verstappen would have hoped to start the race tomorrow from pole.
But taking the entire session into perspective, the 28-year-old was pretty satisfied, emphasising that second was the best Red Bull could have hoped for given the conditions.
“I think we were a little bit more competitive on the extreme [Wet] than the Inter, super hard to do a clean lap, people backing out, yellow flag, looking up yourself, 360, all of that,” he said.
“Yeah, we just went through qualifying without too many dramas, I would say, and to be on the front row is good.
“I mean, yeah, a bit unlucky, of course, with not having another lap, but I think if you look at the whole of Q3, we never really were in contention for pole anyway, so it’s fine like this.”
Verstappen not hoping for ‘amazing’ F1 Las Vegas GP
While Verstappen has contended throughout the last couple of race weekends that he has “nothing to lose”, the title fight with Norris will be lingering in the back of his mind.
If the Briton outscores Verstappen by nine points on Sunday, it would put the Dutchman out of contention for a fifth consecutive championship with two races to spare.
Speaking about the overall potential of the RB21, as things stand, Verstappen conceded that second was all he could wring out of the car.
“I think if you look at the whole of Q3, we were never up there, we were never first, we were never quick enough, and to be second is fine,” he asserted.
Having said that, with disruptions in practice making the picture unclear, Verstappen, while he isn’t waiting on a miracle, is cautiously optimistic about his prospects.
“It’s a bit difficult to say. I mean, we didn’t really do any proper long running in FP1. I did a little bit, which was not entirely to my liking,” he recalled.
“So, I hope with the changes, of course, that we made since then, that it will be a little bit better, but I’m not expecting it to be, let’s say, amazing, but I hope that we have a chance to do well.”
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