Having won pole position with a brilliant final lap in qualifying, Max Verstappen has set his sights on a rapid start to the race to help him win Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix.
If he does it will be his 14th victory of the season - a new Formula 1 record. But the Red Bull driver admitted that it wouldn't be easy, after a very tight time in today's session.
Mercedes is looking much stronger this weekend in the high altitude of Mexico City, and Verstappen left it late to go faster than George Russell and Lewis Hamilton at the end of Q3.
"It was a good qualifying, I think it was a close one," Verstappen told the media in parc ferme after the end of the session.
“I’m very happy, as around here, for me at least, it’s very hard to nail a lap. It’s always very low grip.
"There are a few kerbs you have to perfectly hit to actually gain time, so it’s definitely not the easiest of qualifyings. It’s the same with the tyre warm-up. But it seems like in Q3 we had it under control.”
Russell had been quickest in FP2 and FP3 while Hamilton had been quickest in the first two rounds of qualifying. Verstappen explained how Red Bull had turned it round when it mattered.
"I think after FP3 we made a few adjustments on the car got into a better rhythm," he said. "To be on pole here is of course amazing."
But pole position doesn't pay points. Verstappen will need to ensure that he doesn't get ambushed by Russell and Hamilton in the very long run down to the first corner when the lights go out.
"Of course it's a very long run to turn 1 so we do need a good start.," he acknowledged. "I think we have a quick car, and of course that's what is most important."
"I'm sure we have a quick race car so I hope it will be quite a fun race with a lot of action," he said, buoyed by the knowledge that his team mate the this weekend's local hero Sergio Perez will be starting from the second row.
"Checo will be there tomorrow," he added. "I think it will be close in the race. Normally they [Mercedes] have very good race pace as well, so it depends on what you can do with this strategy. We'll look into that tonight."
Perez himself said that an electronics problem had hampered his shot at pole leaving him without the real time data he needed.
“It was a big shame," said the Mexican. "We had an electrical issue throughout quali, and with DRS we were struggling and so on.
"It was important to make sure we got everything right, but I was pretty much blind through quali," he explained. "I had no reference lap time, I had no information on my brake balance or times, so it was just a mess.
“When I look back at my quali, I nearly got knocked out in Q1, and in Q2, so to be P4 is not the end of the world. But I really believe we could have fought for pole position.”
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