Verstappen: The most important thing is that we won pole

Max Verstappen won pole position for the 36th time in his career and the Red Bull Racing drivers start the Japanese Grand Prix from the front row, with just milliseconds separating them in qualifying.

Max Verstappen (1st): “At the end of qualifying the battle for pole became more intense, but on this circuit a lot depends on the performance of the tires, as the asphalt here is very abrasive, and if you try to get to the limit, it doesn’t always work.

In any case, the most important thing is that we won pole position. Of course you always want to drive perfectly every lap, but on a circuit like Suzuka that is not always possible. But overall the day went great and we start the race from a good position – tomorrow is the most important day.

It’s great that the team has shown the first two results and let’s hope we can maintain these positions on Sunday.”

Sergio Perez (2nd): “The rivalry with Max was very intense today. I felt like I had a good lap. But we must admit that this is a very difficult route, especially the last sector. There, in the last chicane, you could easily lose a few tenths, and although we tried to sort everything out, unfortunately we came up a little short.

But we only lose a little bit throughout the weekend, including in qualifying, and when the battle is so fierce, even a minimal speed difference is important. I didn’t start the lap in the best way and this could probably have an effect, but we will still start from a good position on Sunday. This morning our pace over the long series of laps was not the best, but we are working on it and we can hope to perform with confidence tomorrow.”