Verstappen: Red Bull could have been closer to pole

Red Bull Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen feels he could have been closer to German Grand Prix polesitter Lewis Hamilton without a mistake on his final run during qualifying.

Verstappen took advantage of Ferrari’s double reliability nightmare in qualifying at Hockenheim to land a front-row starting position for Sunday's Grand Prix as he split the Mercedes duo in second place, ending up 0.346s adrift of Hamilton.

None of the top three driver runners were able to improve on their final runs in Q3, but Verstappen was convinced he was on for a better lap until he ran wide at Turn 8.

“We could have been closer, I wouldn’t have said we would have got the pole but I ran a bit wide and bottomed out and lost the rear, but still it was a good result,” Verstappen said.

“It’s difficult to say [if pole was possible],” he added. "I think in Q1 you could see that Ferrari was quite comfortable and then you know that in Q3 anyway that the gap is going to be even bigger normally, so in a way of course it was good that they dropped off.

“But from my side from Q1 to Q3 I felt like I had a bit of a loss of grip. I felt in Q3 I just never had the grip like I had in Q1, of course it’s getting warmer and it seemed like it was hurting me a bit more at the time.”

Verstappen reported a loss of power early on in Q2 that forced him to return to the pits and ultimately switch onto Soft tyres in order to progress to Q3, however the Dutchman downplayed the problem after qualifying.

“I tried a different mode for that run but as soon as I crossed the start finish line somehow it cut out, and then you know that the lap is ruined so I backed off,” he explained.

“I went into the box just to check everything and then went back out again. Of course I had to use the other tyres (Softs) which is a little bit of a shame because I wanted to try and do the same as the other guys, but that’s how it is and we just have to live with that.

“But in the second run of Q2 and Q3 there was no problem.”

Asked if it was similar to the issue he encountered during qualifying at Silverstone, Verstappen replied: “I don’t know if it was exactly the same but in the car it feels pretty similar.

“They were working pretty hard to get on top of it. I think in Q3 honestly it was fine and that’s when it matters. We did get on top of it.”

And Verstappen hopes Red Bull’s promising race pace will enable him to challenge Hamilton for victory in Germany, with even cooler temperatures and rain forecast for Sunday.

“I think normally in the race is normally where we are a little bit more competitive,” he said.

“Of course I’m starting on a different tyre so we will have to see how that works out but hopefully we can follow and try to challenge them. That would be good.”