Max Verstappen has detailed he “ran out of tyres” during qualifying due to the extensive number of red flags that were deployed.
Qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw six red flags flown in a chaotic session, stretching the outing to almost two hours.
Rain began to fall during Q3, adding further stress on the drivers - including championship leader Oscar Piastri, who found the barriers.
When the cars emerged back onto the track following the final red flag period, Verstappen managed to find grip and bring his Red Bull car to the top of the timesheet.
“Long qualifying, to be honest, with so many red flags,” Verstappen reflected.
“It was very difficult to get your lap together, because most of the time your tyres are not really ready, or again, a red flag happens.
“Especially Q3, also a bit of rain around, it was a very difficult session.
“In the final lap, you just have to send it. I wasn't even on the best tyres that I wanted, but because of all the red flags, you basically run out of tyres.
“I'm very happy with how the weekend went. From FP1 we were not too bad, we just kept on improving a tiny amount.
“We were there in qualifying, that's where it matters.”
Verstappen has often been the biggest threat to McLaren this year during the Woking-based squad's dominant campaign, and his sixth pole marks the most of any driver so far this season.
However, a nightmare session for McLaren will see Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri start seventh and ninth, respectively.
Even with a significant grid advantage, Verstappen is still expecting a challenging race on Sunday.
“You want to have a good start, but even then, we just need to do our own race,” he added.
“Look after our tyres, because it's still quite tough on all the tyres around here because of the softer compounds.
“Then we'll see what happens.”
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