Max Verstappen gave a memorable sound bite over team radio after clinching pole position for the Miami Sprint Race.
Heading into SQ3, McLaren’s Lando Norris appeared to be the odds-on favourite for the Saturday sprint.
However, as Norris’ push failed, Verstappen delivered when it counted, despite putting in a messy performance.
Verstappen eventually won the sprint pole by less than a tenth of a second over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The Dutchman was evidently astonished when race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase informed him that he had earned pole position.
Verstappen responded: “LOL. What happened to the others? This was bad.
“I mean I will take it!”
Verstappen admitted that his Red Bull’s performance “didn’t feel great” while explaining why he was surprised to take first place.
“It felt dreadful. “Perhaps that last session was just extremely difficult to get the tyres to work,” he explained.
“I didn’t feel good in SQ2. SQ3, it just felt quite similar to me.
“I didn’t make significant progress on the soft. Somehow, we were first. Of course, I gladly accept it.
“But it didn’t feel pleasurable to drive out there for whatever reason, because practice felt really, really good, and I was extremely comfortable and confident; qualifying, not so much.
“It could be the track layout a little bit. After practice, I was convinced we could battle for pole, but qualifying didn’t look like that to me.
“But somehow, we came in first. I’m not sure what happened to the other vehicles on the last lap.”
Verstappen has not lost a sprint race since the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, where he finished second to Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen has won eight races since the sprint format was introduced in 2021, six more than the following driver (Valtteri Bottas: 2).
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