Max Verstappen says his P3 qualifying performance was an unexpected one, but the Red Bull still isn't expecting to challenge Mercedes in the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Dutchman's hailed his team's concerted efforts in the Saturday afternoon session that delivered a spot on the second row of Sunday's grid, alongside Kimi Raikkonen.
He acknowledged however that his advantageous position was likely helped by a botched Q3 segment by Ferrari.
"Today as a team we made no mistakes, on or off the track," said the 21-year-old.
"We managed to optimise the set-up and conditions in Q3 which resulted in a really good grid position to start from tomorrow.
"It was crucial that we swapped the intermediates to slicks at the beginning of Q3, this allowed us to get out ahead of Ferrari and set a strong lap time."
Verstappen had left Friday's day of work unhappy with the low-downforce settings on his RB14. But overnight changes revived the driver's spirits.
"I was a lot more satisfied with my feeling and performance in the car compared to yesterday. The hard work the guys put in overnight showed and meant I could have a good qualifying session."
While he was happy with the car's improvements, the Red Bull charger still feels that he'll be hard-pressed to defy the Silver Arrows' dominance around Suzuka, at least under normal circumstances.
"I think the Mercedes will be too quick for us to challenge come the race, but with a good start who knows," he added.
"Sebastian will be looking to come through the pack quickly so I may have some defending to do at some point, I will of course do my best to hang onto my position.
"We need to concentrate on doing the best possible strategy from our side and then hopefully finish on the podium."
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