Azerbaijan GP: Max Verstappen eyeing race pace opportunities after taking P3 in qualifying

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is hoping the car’s strong race pace is going to give him a chance to fight for victory tomorrow afternoon in Baku.

The Dutchman qualified third fastest for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, with him seeing nearest championship rival Charles Leclerc take pole and team-mate Sergio Perez take second.

Indeed, the three championship contenders will lead the field away tomorrow afternoon in Baku, with Leclerc looking to end a streak of four Red Bull victories in a row.

Verstappen, of course, will be hoping to maintain that and with a win for himself after seeing Perez take victory in Monaco, and he’s eyeing his car’s strong race pace as reason to suggest he can battle for the top step tomorrow:

“I think the start of the lap was good, then it went away from me a little. Tiny mistakes, so not ideal.

“In general I was just struggling a bit to find front-to-rear balance over one lap. So not, of course, what I want but still I think as a team, second and third we have a good opportunity for tomorrow.

“Overall we seemed to lack maybe a little bit over one lap but I think in the long run normally our car should be quite good.”

It’s going to be an interesting charge down to the first turn and into the opening lap tomorrow, with the three title rivals out in front.

Carlos Sainz starts in fourth, meanwhile, and will be eager to show the trio he can mix it with them as well.