Verstappen 'positively surprised' by qualifying performance

Max Verstappen was "positively surprised" by his level of performance in Saturday's qualifying session in Baku although the Red Bull driver regretted running on his own in Q3.

Verstappen clocked in fourth at the end of the afternoon's shootout, 0.574s behind poleman Valtteri Bottas.

While the Dutchman was satisfied with his overall speed, racing down the main straight without the benefit of a tow cost him time.

"We were positively surprised that we were so competitive in qualifying and the second row of the grid is not bad," said Verstappen.

"Everything was going quite smoothly, but in Q3 we were running a different strategy as I only had one set of tyres so I was on my own.

• Bottas beats Hamilton to Baku pole after Leclerc crashes

"The lap itself was good, but it was a shame that we did not have any slipstream, while the rest gave each other a slipstream.

"Around this track it is very painful to be on your own and you of course lose lap time to others who have a tow.

"Even compared to my own lap in Q2 I was losing around two and a half tenths on the main straight.

"You can also gain a tenth or two on the other straights having a car six or seven seconds ahead as you get sucked in and these cars have so much drag."

Verstappen believes he actually could have enjoyed a shot at pole if his track position had been better.

"I pushed everything I could out of my final lap and it was pretty good," he added.

"I think we could have fought for pole if we were in that train of cars, but at least we know the car is working well."

And the Red Bull charger has a good starting point from which to build a good race on Sunday.

"It can be an interesting race tomorrow," he said.

"It’s always a crazy one here and for sure the race won’t be won at Turn 1. It’s all pretty close and from fourth we can still fight for the race."

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