Max Verstappen has conceded he took added “risk” on his final Q3 lap in a bid to take pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
However, the Dutchman has conceded there was little he could do stop Lando Norris claiming the top spot.
Norris and Verstappen will fill out the front row for Saturday night's race in Las Vegas after the former bridged a gap of three-tenths of a second at the end of Q3.
Verstappen is seeking to keep his championship hopes alive by the end of the race, and must not be outscored by Norris by nine points in order to do so.
The four-time champion detailed the difficulty of keeping his car on the road during qualifying, likening it to “driving on ice”.
“Really, really slippery out there,” Verstappen said “It's already slippery in the dry, but in the wet, it's not fun, I can tell you that.
“I like driving in the wet, this felt more like driving on ice, so it took a long time to get the tyres to work a little bit.
“I do feel like maybe we're a little bit more competitive on the extreme tyre. But the track is improving so you have to move on to the inter.
“I struggled a lot just to have any kind of grip. The final lap, of course, you risk a little bit more, but it was still by far not enough to fight for first.”
McLaren was not expected to challenge at the front of the grid in Las Vegas, however Norris was able to capitalise on the tricky conditions.
Verstappen is already looking to use the start of race congestion to make a move on his rival and take the lead.
“But still to be on the front row, it’s good for us,” Verstappen said.
“The lap felt alright. It's just super difficult out there to get all the braking zones right and be on the limit of the tyres as well, but we did it.
“I’m excited for tomorrow. I hope the inside is okay in terms of grip, but we'll see.”
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