Max Verstappen says he doesn’t have “any major expectations” ahead of qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix despite showing good pace on Friday.
The Dutchman could still become the youngest ever pole sitter in Formula One history if he was to manage it this weekend.
The Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver was fastest in Free Practice 1 at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace and admitted he was “happy with the car” from as soon as he started the session.
“I was pretty happy with the car as soon as I jumped in it this morning, which isn’t usually the case around here and showed in the first session.
“The car felt good but I had a bit of traffic on my quick lap, so I feel the time can still improve a little bit.”
Brazil is not seen as a great track for the Red Bull and Verstappen acknowledges this and has adjusted his focus more to race pace than qualifying.
“As this circuit generally doesn’t suit us I don’t have any major expectations for qualifying, our focus is on the race. My long run pace looked OK, the second session was compromised a little bit so I couldn’t do everything I wanted but it felt alright.
“With only a few tweaks tomorrow I’m confident we can get the set-up where I want it.
“I was delayed getting out on track this afternoon due to a small oil leak and we wanted to make sure that was fixed and therefore shouldn’t cause any further issues.”
Brazil always has the threat of rain and Verstappen showed his skill in the wet in Brazil two years ago but is unsure whether any rain will come this weekend.
“Looking at the weather, I think today was supposed to be the worst and it didn’t rain, so I’m not sure we will get any help in that respect.”
