Max Verstappen felt the Qualifying session he had for the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday was the best of his Formula 1 career, with the Dutchman claiming second on the grid behind Lewis Hamilton despite suffering with driveability issues with his engine.
The Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver has suffered with the power unit issues for much of the weekend, so it came as a surprise that he claimed a front row grid slot, just 0.319 seconds behind Hamilton, who had broken the lap record to get the pole position time.
“Today was the best Qualifying session I’ve had in Formula 1,” said Verstappen. “Given the engine driveability issues we faced in Practice and Qualifying I was very surprised to bring it home in P2.
“My Q3 lap was really good and we made progress with the set-up in every session which meant the car felt great at the end. The main step was finding quite a bit of front grip, this helped a lot come Q2 and Q3.
“Around here if you feel it was a good lap with few mistakes it usually translates into a front row. Even with the odd false neutral we managed to be on the front row so I’m really happy.”
Verstappen feels that should he get the jump on Hamilton at the start, he will be in with a really good chance of taking the win as overtaking is difficult in between the Armco barriers, however from the front row he feels he has at least put him in with a chance.
“If I can take a metre against Lewis at the start, and get in the lead, there is a good chance of a win as it’s a hard track to pass on,” said the Dutchman. “You still need luck with Safety Cars but as always I will do my best.
“I can certainly say I have put myself in a good position to try.”
