He almost did it…almost, but almost isn't good enough in Formula One unfortunately. Max Verstappen had one last chance to become the first teenager in the history of the sport to secure pole position for a Formula One race, but Sebastian Vettel threw everything he could at the Marina Bay circuit to take the chance away from the young Dutchman.
Max has been very strong here all weekend and as it is his last race weekend before his 20th birthday, the possibility of pole was very real. Instead, Max had to settle for a very close P2, but it is still a front row start and anything can happen, especially if Sebastian Vettel has a poor start, something that is not totally out of the question, especially remembering back to the start of the last race in Monza…
"All weekend has been a good build up, getting faster and faster and finding a smooth rhythm so to come away with second is a really good result. I took a little bit of risk to put down a good lap as we had predicted the others would improve from yesterday and this morning's session,” Max said.
“Perhaps there was a bit of time in the last sector to find but in general I am very pleased with how the car and I performed. That was the best balance in terms of set-up I have had with the car in Qualifying all year and that is a big positive.”
“My quickest time was more or less the maximum I could do, Sebastian just had an even better lap. Race pace is good so we have a chance tomorrow but it looks like Ferrari have found quite a lot. The start will be important and maybe if there are a couple of safety cars that could impact the result too."
