Qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix took place in wet and difficult conditions, with rain falling right as the session began. The freshly resurfaced street circuit became extremely slippery, and drivers had to use full Wet tyres in Q1 and Q2. Even for someone as skilled in the rain as Max Verstappen, the grip levels were far from comfortable.

Verstappen managed to place his Red Bull on the front row for Sunday’s race, starting alongside Lando Norris. However, he admitted that the conditions felt beyond what he would normally enjoy. “It was super slippery with the track. It felt like ice. It is not a lot of fun to do,” he said, quoted by Motorsport Week. “I mean, I love driving in the wet, but this, for me, is a little bit too much, I would say. Yeah, you just have to be super careful.” He added that he was surprised there were not more incidents because everyone was either behaving well or simply scared.

The Dutchman felt that Red Bull performed better on the full Wet tyres than on the Intermediate ones used later in Q3. As the track slowly dried, drivers pushed harder, but traffic, yellow flags and mistakes made it difficult to complete a clean lap. Verstappen believed second place was the best he could achieve. “We never really were in contention for pole anyway, so it is fine like this,” he said. “To be on the front row is good.”

Looking ahead to the Grand Prix, Verstappen was realistic about Red Bull’s pace. He currently trails Norris in the championship, and the Briton can eliminate him from the title fight if he outscores him by nine points. Verstappen admitted that he does not expect a miracle on race day. “We did not really do any proper long running in FP1. I did a little bit, which was not entirely to my liking,” he explained.

He hoped the changes made since practice would help the car, but he was not expecting anything “amazing”. Even so, he believes there is still a chance to fight near the front if the car behaves better in race trim.