Max Verstappen has identified the strong winds at Austin as a potential factor which could have cost him United States Grand Prix pole position.
Verstappen roared to a seventh pole of the season to further cement his hopes of stealing the world championship away from a McLaren driver following his Sprint win and double DNF for Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the shorter race.
Norris was originally 0.394s slower than Verstappen in Q3 after the first runs, and will start second having lowered that to 0.291s on his second lap - but will start behind the world champion as Piastri could only manage sixth.
It is Verstappen's third pole in five races since the summer break as he looks to eat into the now 55-point lead the Australian holds, with 166 left on the board heading into the Austin race.
Reflecting on his 47th career pole, Verstappen detailed how the strong Austin winds impacted his running.
"It was good, every segment the car was very strong, but just trying to put the lap together around here can sometimes be quite tricky," Verstappen explained.
"It is very hot, there are very strong winds and then in the final sector, having the tailwind is challenging, but the first run in Q3 was good. I managed to improve from Q2, but then, unfortunately, I couldn't do my final run.
"It was a bit messy with the outlaps, but we didn't need [the second lap].
"It was tricky with the wind; it picked up compared to Friday, and it managed to turn into a full-on tailwind into the Esses, and you just lose downforce.
"So the car is moving around a lot more, compared to Friday, so that made it a bit harder, and of course, in some corners, you gain a bit of lap-time back, but you can't commit as much as you normally can in Sector 1."
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