Despite poor qualifying position Max Verstappen picked as the favorite to win the 2023 F1 US GP by fellow competitor

Max Verstappen has been picked to win the 2023 F1 US GP by fellow competitor Lando Norris. The Red Bull driver had a poor qualifying session where his fastest lap (which would have been good enough for pole position) was deleted due to track limits infringement. The driver will start the race from P6 with multiple fast runners ahead of him.

Lando Norris is one of the drivers ahead of Max Verstappen on the grid and the McLaren driver was very happy with his session. Talking about qualifying, Norris said in the post-qualifying press conference:

“I’m pretty happy with today. Probably wasn’t expecting to be as quick as what we were, so it was a pleasant surprise for the whole team I think. Still tricky, just a difficult circuit, bumpy and low grip in certain areas, easy to make a lot of mistakes. I think pole was in it today though. So I can be that little bit happier, but I’m taking P2 for now."

Looking ahead to the race, Lando Norris felt that it was almost a guarantee that the Red Bull driver would be the favorite to win the race on Sunday. Talking about the race, he said:

"It’s not going to be an easy one, Ferrari are very quick, Mercedes are very quick and especially on long runs they’re always very quick. And then Max is pretty much guaranteed to come through and probably win again. But yeah, we’ll do our best until that happens.”

Max Verstappen looking forward to the race on Sunday

Max Verstappen is looking forward to the race on Sunday. He was a bit disappointed at missing out on pole position but was confident for the rest of the weekend. He said:

“It was a shame to miss out on pole with my deleted lap but I knew in Turn 19 it would be a close call. I made a mistake in Turn One so I had to really push for the rest of the lap, I didn't understeer or anything, I just really tried to maximize the corner and I misjudged it. Margins are very fine when you are pushing to the limit."

He added:

"Of course, it's unfortunate but it makes the Sunday race more enjoyable. Now our focus turns to the Sprint race tomorrow, we want to win that and the race on Sunday. It's a long weekend and a lot can happen, I'm going to have some fun out there that's for sure."

Max Verstappen is chasing his 15th win of the season, a win that will help him level his record of the most wins in a year.