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Max Verstappen looked destined for pole position at the British GP with the way he improved on every lap of the qualifying session. However, on the last lap in Q3, his championship rival Charles Leclerc spun in the third sector and brought out a yellow flag. Due to this, the reigning champion was forced to slow down in the third sector and could not retaliate against the lap set by Carlos Sainz.
Speaking to SkyF1 after qualifying, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko admitted that the yellow flag at the end ruined Max Verstappen's pole position bid. He said:
“We were so dominant. There were yellow flags, so he had to go off the gas. That cost us pole position. We were so dominant and then something like this happens.”
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Marko, however, was confident of the team's prospects in the race as he felt Red Bull would be faster than Ferrari in race trim. He said:
“Overtaking is difficult here. We are in second (Verstappen) and fourth (Perez) place, so from a strategic and tactical point of view there is still a lot that can be done. I think we will at least be faster in terms of race-pace.”
Max Verstappen aiming for the win in the British GP
Max Verstappen also admitted that the yellow flags cost him a shot at pole position. However, he was upbeat about the team's prospects irrespective of the conditions that could be there during the race. He said:
“It was a good qualifying, I felt comfortable out there. It was obviously very slippery on track, my 360-degree spin in Q3 was a new tyre warming technique [laughs], but overall I think we did a good job, we have a great race car. Q3 is sometimes a bit of a lottery, especially in the wet, so I couldn’t improve on my final lap as there was a yellow flag, I think that cost me pole position today.”
He added:
“As you can see it’s all very tight at the front at the Ferraris are very strong. It will be a close battle tomorrow but hopefully we can finish ahead of them. The car is good in the wet and the dry, so if the car is working well during the race tomorrow then we should have a good chance of winning.”
Verstappen currently holds a 49-point advantage over Charles Leclerc and it will be interesting to see how the two rivals battled it out in the race.
