Max Verstappen said he is not sure if there is still a a battle for the World Championship. The Dutchman qualified in P3 for the Japanese Grand Prix after Ferrari’s failings on strategy.
Sebastian Vettel is 50 points behind the Championship leader, Lewis Hamilton, and now will start the race at Suzuka from P9 to the Brit’s pole position.
When David Coulthard asked him whether he would get in the way of a Championship battle, should the Ferraris come through the field. Verstappen response was:
“Is it still a battle? I’m not sure? I think, realistically, we would be close to Ferrari, but it would be hard to beat them but we made the right call in Q3. I didn’t expect to start third but of course we have a bigger chance now to be on the podium.”
Of course, very happy to be third, but it is a shame that we couldn’t give the fans a really cool Q3 but it is great to see them over here, they are so passionate about Formula 1, he added.
Even when it is raining they stay, even when it is dark and the mechanics are working on the car, they also stay in the grandstand. It is crazy to see but in one way it is all amazing.”
His teammate Daniel Ricciardo was “pissed” after mechanical failure ruined his qualifying effort.
Ricciardo qualified 15th at Suzuka after losing power during Q2 – his fifth failure to reach the top-10 shootout in seven races.
“I just felt a loss of power out of the last corner and just before I started the lap, so I knew it was something that seemed terminal, said Daniel. – Qualifying’s important here, like always, but it’s hard to follow and whatever. I’ll try and do what I can. It’s pretty painful at the moment.”
