In ordinary circumstances Max Verstappen would be furious about missing out on pole position. But after qualifying in second place for the Las Vegas GP he uttered a sentence containing sentiments which are vanishingly rare for this most competitive and demanding of individuals.
"It's fine like this," he said.
Rain ahead of and during the first segment of the qualifying session made track conditions perilous throughout. There was enough standing water for Pirelli's blue-walled ‘extreme' wet tyres to become the de facto choice until the final segment; usually these tyres are never seen in action during a grand prix weekend because conditions wet enough to warrant their use are normally attended by a red flag.
So simply getting through to Q3, given continuously evolving track conditions, traffic, and frequent yellow flags, was an achievement in itself. But it has become apparent that Red Bull's competitive renaissance has lost some momentum: a new floor geometry for Monza appeared to have unlocked some inherent potential in the RB21 and enabled Verstappen to regain ground on Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the title race, but recent events have indicated that Red Bull hasn't been able to reach a complete solution.
The team continues to run split set-ups across its cars, essentially using Yuki Tsunoda's as a mobile testing lab. The two Red Bulls are running subtly different floor geometries this weekend, not because of a lack of spare parts but because it is continuing to chase the elusive sweet spot. Team boss Laurent Mekies apologised to Tsunoda after qualifying in Las Vegas for making "big mistakes" with tyre pressures.
