Track limits error will make Sunday more fun – Verstappen

Max Verstappen says his Sunday at the United States Grand Prix has been made more fun by his misjudgment with track limits that left him sixth on the grid.

Charles Leclerc was on provisionall pole after the first runs in Q3 and then extended his advantage with his final lap, but Verstappen was behind him on the road and pipped the Ferrari by 0.005s. Verstappen’s lap time was soon deleted, though, for exceeding track limits at Turn 19 and he admits it was his own error that has given him a tougher task in the grand prix.

“I knew in Turn 19 that it was going to be a close call,” Verstappen said. “I had a little mistake in Turn 1 so I had to really push for it in the rest of the lap. It’s fine margins, honestly. I didn’t even understeer; I just tried to really maximize the corner and I misjudged it by a little bit. It’s very fine margins when you are pushing to the limit. It’s a bit unfortunate but it makes [Sunday a bit more fun].”

Starting from further back in the pack means the tight Turn 1 opens up greater potential to be involved in incidents at the start, but Verstappen is not overly concerned.

“It’s probably not ideal but I’ve also started further back and it’s all about if you have good pace, you will move forward,” he said. “I will just keep an eye on it, but of course first we have tomorrow — the Sprint day — and we’ll see how that goes as well.

“We want to win, so for sure today was not ideal, but it’s still a long race and there’s a lot of things we can do better and have a bit of fun out there as well.”

Pole-sitter Leclerc expects Verstappen to be a threat from sixth despite multiple teams looking quick in Austin, as Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton start directly behind him.

“As always [Verstappen’s still in the frame],” Leclerc said. “Red Bull is always very strong, and Max this year is always on it. He will be a threat and up there tomorrow.”

Story originally appeared on Racer