Max Verstappen enjoyed a perfect Sprint on Saturday, comfortably outpacing the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in P2 and the rest of the grid.
However, a more difficult challenge lies in front of the Dutchman for Sunday’s race after a off track violation saw him plummet down to P6 in qualifying.
Nevertheless given his form in 2023, and considering his pace in the Sprint, many put him as firm favorite for the win despite the low grid position.
The reigning champion was even more optimistic than the pundits, stating that he hopes his race pace is even stronger than that shown on Saturday.
“The pace has been always there, just unfortunate with a track limits in the first qualifying.” he said.
“But with the pace I think we had today, hopefully with more fuel in the car tomorrow it will be even better. We will find out tomorrow but for sure this was a very positive day for us and hopefully we show something similar out there tomorrow.”