Verstappen doesn't know either: 'No idea where that second came from'

And that was the whole problem. Indeed, the Red Bull Racing driver was in the dark when it came to his RB19 and the Pirelli tyres. In Q2, it was compulsory to drive with the yellow medium tyre. In Q3, it was the red soft tyres that had to be used. Verstappen accelerated in that last session, more than was considered normal with the different tyres.

Verstappen has no explanation

At the post-session press briefing, Verstappen still seems to be in the dark: "I cannot tell you because it's just so inconsistent. Like I just went out there, and suddenly it just gripped up a little bit better. And then I put the second set, and it's different again. So it was just very difficult to drive today."

For Verstappen, it will probably have caused him to just miss those three thousandths on his last lap for pole position. Verstappen: "Normally in qualifying, you know, you build up to it, you have a bit of margin, and you know exactly where and how to push more. Because normally naturally, in your second run you improve. But today it was very hard."