F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Verstappen will just go for it: 'If it blows up, it blows up!'

Max Verstappen believes his P4 result in qualifying on Saturday was pretty much the best he could have hoped for given Red Bull's deficit to Mercedes and Ferrari in Brazil.

Despite his encouraging pace in free practice, Verstappen knew beforehand that he would be hard pressed to challenge for pole on a track which clearly favours the two front-running teams.

Lewis Hamilton's demise in Q1 opened up an opportunity however for Red Bull to secure a spot on the second row, which the Dutch driver duly achieved although he remained disappointed.

"Well, I think we maximised the result, but pleased… no, not really.

"All weekend we've just been chasing the car balance and we couldn't get it together. I never expected to beat Ferrari or Mercedes on this track.

"You know, it's simply not our track with the longer straights, but we did the best we could, we maximised the result, but it wasn't good enough."

Verstappen will launch his race with the bit between his teeth as usual but he reckons that may not be enough.

"I do need a bit of luck to be honest," he said.

"The pace on the long run is not good enough but you never what happens in the front."

Queried about his concerns over the reliability of his power unit given Renault's troubled series of failures in the last couple of races, the 20-year-old offered a pragmatic response.

"Not after what happened to me this season," he said.

"Just go for it, flat out. And if it blows up, it blows up!"

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Las Vegas GP: Thursday's action in pictures

The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…

2 hours ago

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

3 hours ago

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

4 hours ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

5 hours ago

Hamilton delighted with ‘consistently strong day’ in Vegas

Lewis Hamilton was particularly happy with his opening day of running at the Las Vegas…

7 hours ago

Verstappen stuck with 'draggy' rear wing for Vegas

Red Bull fears that its prospects for this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix - which…

7 hours ago