Verstappen Eyes Improvement Despite P3 in Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying

Max Verstappen will start from third on the grid at the Spanish Grand Prix, which makes its debut at the Madring circuit. After a qualifying session that saw him finish behind Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli, Verstappen is in a positive mood heading into race day, with a focus on fine-tuning his performance.

Despite a less-than-stellar showing in the practice sessions, where he didn't finish higher than fifth, Verstappen found his stride in Q2 of qualifying, topping the times before securing P3 in the final session. "Yeah, the car was honestly in a quite decent window," he said, reflecting on the result. "To be in the top three in qualifying is good. We can be happy with that."

Even so, the four-time World Champion sees potential for improvement, particularly in the final sector where he noted some struggles with Red Bull's deployment strategy. "There can be some improvements made, especially in the final sector," he admitted. "That's where we really were struggling probably a little bit too much with our deployment strategy. So, that's something to learn for the future."

Looking ahead to the race, Verstappen pointed out that tyre management will be crucial at the Madring, a circuit that's bound to test the endurance of both drivers and their machines. "It could be a long race, tough on tyres, so we'll be really about managing that and trying to really extract the most out of it and see what we can do," the 28-year-old explained.

As the grid lines up for the first-ever Formula 1 race at this Spanish venue, all eyes will be on how Verstappen and his Red Bull team strategize to tackle the challenges of the new circuit. With a focus on tyre strategy and a keen eye on potential improvements, Verstappen seems ready to take on whatever the Spanish Grand Prix throws his way.