168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen says he did not expect to qualify so high for the F1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix after Rꦿed B🔯ull’s difficult start to the weekend.

Red Bull appeared to be on the back foot after Friday practice with both Verstappen, who had already ruled out his team’s chances of victory, and new teammate168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Liam Lawson struggling with handling issues in the RB21.

But Red Bull made improvements overnight, enabling Verstappen to be a contender in qualifying. The Dutchman set the early pace in Q3 but was usurped by the McLaren pair as he ended up 0.385s adri꧋ft in third.

Given how much Red Bull had struggled throughout practice in Melbourne, Verstappen, who is seeking a fifth straight world title in 2025, was delighted to secure a second-row s♊♛tarting spot in third.

"We had a bit of a tough start. This has never really been a good track to us I think as well, so it took a bit of ti♕me to understand how we can improve the situation, and we did that today,” Verstappen said.

"I'm quite surprised to be sitting here [in the press conference] after yester✱day! I felt confident. I felt at one with the car.

“Of course, clearly it was lackinဣg a bit of pace, but overall, happy with the laps in qualifying. Tried to re🥃ally extract everything, tyres are quite sensitive as well with all these high-speed corners but I’m happy to be here."

Asked what his expectꦅations are for the race, which could be hit by wet weather, Verstappen replied: “I don't expect like any kind of miracles about it, I think it [the💎 long run pace] is OK.

“But I think it's not on the same level [as the McLarens]. I'll just do my be꧂st to see what h🐻appens tomorrow.”

Red Bull team principa🐠l Christian Horner praised the turnaround from his side.

“That’s very decent. To be honest w🐷ith you, after Bahrain, that’s about what we expected. That’s what we saw there,” Horner told Sky Sports.

“Well done to McLaren on both drivers putting inꦕ that last lap.

“I thi𝕴nk we’ve got a good, solid platform from which to work from for the season ahead. We’re not optimal with the car yet.

“They [McLaren] 🍸are identical up to Turn 11💎, we lose a bit in the last couple of corners so I think we’ve got a lot to go at there.

“It was a good effort froꦡm the te🍬am yesterday. The drivers weren’t happy with the balance. We improved the car a lot today.”

On the other side of the garage, Lawson endured a messy qualifying debut for Red Bull and will stꦆart 18th after being eliminated in Q1.