“You can see our rear wing, it’s shortened quite a bit, around the DRS flap, so when we open DRS we don’t get the gain like others do, so that complicates things a bit here.

“But that’s our own fault, we know that, that’s a compromise we have, but still I tried to do my best.

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“It was quite close for P3, small details that maybe could have been a bit better, but overall I’m happy with the laps, there wasn’t much more to it.”

Verstappen will share the third row with his only remaining opponent for the title, Lando Norris, and the reigning champion will take the crown on Saturday evening if Norris does not surpass him by three or more points.