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 Red Bull’s diffic🐠ult 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 eꦿnded up 0.385s adrift in third.

Given how mu�ܫ�ch 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 starting 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 time to understand how we can improve the situation, and we did that today,ꦉ” Verstapp🐭en said.

"I'm quite surprised to be sitting here [in the press conferenc🎃e] after yesterday! I felt confident. I felt at one with the car.

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

Asked what his expectations 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 ಌsame level [as the McLarens]. I'll just do my best to see what happ🦄ens tomorrow.”

🍸Red Bull team principal Christian Horner praised the turnaround from his side.

“That’s ver𝔍y decent. To be honest with 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 drive𒀰rs putting🤡 in that last lap.

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

“They [McLaren] are ident🌱ical 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 from the team yesterday. The drivers weren’t happy with the balance. We improved the ca🎃r a lot today.”

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