Max Verstappen vowed he will still finish "minimum P2" at the Miami Grand Prix despite only managing to qualify on the fifth row of the grid.
With Sergio Perez hot on his heels in the championship, the Dutchman wants to win in Florida this weekend to avoid losing top spot to his Red Bull team-mate. But that task has been made tougher after qualifying took an unlucky turn for the defending champion.
Verstappen was favourite for pole but made an error on his first attempt at a hot lap in Q3. He pulled out of it and returned to the garage in the hope that his second and final attempt of the session would be enough to top the timesheets.
But he never got the chance to find out if he could do it. As he emerged from the pit lane, Charles Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari while on a hot lap and span around, hitting the Tec-pro barrier and causing a red flag.
There were only 90 seconds left in the session and the decision was quickly made to end the session immediately. As Verstappen had not set a representative time, he will start the race ninth on the grid with Perez a fair way ahead of him in pole position.
Asked what his goal is for the race now, his simple reply was: "Minimum P2." When the interviewer questioned if he can only foresee Perez in front of him, the Dutchman added: "Yeah of course, but there are a few cars between us."
He could do nothing about the Leclerc spin which cost him the chance to compete for pole, but Verstappen only wanted to point the finger at himself. "Clearly, that was definitely a mistake of mine. I was trying to put it on the limit and I made a mistake and had to void the lap," he admitted.
"Then you rely on a little bit of luck, of course, that there is not going to be a red flag. But that can happen on a street circuit so I'm a bit upset with myself. It's going to be tough. I made it difficult for myself so I have to accept that."
Meanwhile, Perez was a very popular pole sitter as the Miami crowd roared its approval as he took part in his post-session interview. The Mexican said: "I'm enjoying it, just taking it race by race. I want to go out and achieve for my team because they've done a tremendous job and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
