Max Verstappen effort to secure pole position for Sunday's Saudi Arabian GP were undone by a costly mistake at the last corner, but the Red Bull driver believes he still has a shot at winning in Jeddah.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner described Verstappen's final flyer in Q3 on Saturday as "the lap of the year" until it all went wrong for the Dutchman when he locked up on the entry to Turn 27.
In the heat of the moment, Verstappen was understandably upset by his costly mistake.
But once the dust had settled and he collected his thoughts, the championship leader felt that a P3 start on Sunday's grid behind pacesetter Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas would not necessarily put him out of the running for an outright win.
"It at least seems like we can fight," said Verstappen, basing his view on his strong albeit botched performance in qualifying.
"In Qatar we were really off the pace, so it seems like our car is working a bit better here and I hope that tomorrow on this track we can follow well and then I’m sure if that’s the case then we have a good shot at it."
Verstappen admitted that overtaking around Jeddah – not to mention overhauling two Mercedes cars – could prove challenging, while tyre management remains an unknow factor for the Dutchman.
"I hope it’s going to be alright," he said, referring to overtaking. "It's not only that – we don’t really know the tyres, how they’re going to be behave.
"I’m confident. Of course, I would’ve liked to start first, but now starting third [winning] is a bit more difficult, but definitely not impossible."
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