Max Verstappen: I hope we have an interesting race

Max Verstappen is happy with the results of qualifying in Melbourne – and expects to win the race…

Question: Max, congratulations. You said the weekend wasn’t easy, but you still won pole. Are you satisfied?
Max Verstappen: Very satisfied. This weekend it was difficult to find the optimal balance. During qualifying, in the first and second sessions, I couldn’t set the best time. But then we changed something in the car and it worked. There is always something to improve on a car.

Q: In the finals you improved with every attempt. Do you feel like you’ve fully realized the car’s potential, or is it capable of more?
Max Verstappen: I think we could have gone even faster. You can take each turn a little differently, play a little more. It’s difficult to do everything perfectly on this track, but I’m happy with my laps in the final.

Question: Not everything went smoothly during your training. Does this affect tomorrow’s race?
Max Verstappen: It shouldn’t. We also worked well this morning. It just took some time to find the right balance. Tomorrow we will find out if he is good enough to race. The Ferrari cars are fast and stable this weekend, I hope we can expect an interesting race.

Question: Do you think Ferrari is closer to Red Bull this weekend than the previous two?
Max Verstappen: In Melbourne they were fast from the start, but not everything worked for us. Today we managed to improve, but the race will not be easy, especially with the softest tire compounds. Let’s see how everything turns out tomorrow.