Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen is hoping he’ll finish tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix, and that there will be ‘no sandwiches’, having not made it past the first corner of the previous race.
Verstappen was sandwiched between both Scuderia Ferrari drivers on the run down to the first corner in the Singapore Grand Prix two weeks ago, leading to a collision that saw all three fail to finish.
Whilst it’s unlikely to happen tomorrow as Sebastian Vettel will be starting from the back of the grid following engine issues, Verstappen will be lining up third, behind Kimi Raikkonen – a position he’s happy with.
“Third in qualifying is a pretty good birthday present today,” said Verstappen. The whole weekend I was not fully happy with the car and in the last practice session I didn’t have the perfect balance, but in Qualifying we managed to pull it together and the car was pretty good.
“To be four or five tenths off pole position on this track and knowing they can turn up their engines in Qualifying means we are doing a good job.
“I think on the long runs we are a bit more competitive so I’m definitely looking forward to tomorrow.”
Commenting on his season’s previous qualifying results, Verstappen said, “So far on Saturdays I’ve been a happy guy and on Sundays this has changed. Let’s hope it is different tomorrow and I’m sure we can have a good race.
“I’m also hoping for no sandwiches!”
