F1: Verstappen fumes over turbulence from Perez

–by Mark Cipolloni–

In qualifying for the USGP Friday, Max Verstappen caught Sergio Perez at the final corner of his first run of Q3, with the turbulent air messing up his lap.

Verstappen would have won the pole position for the USGP by just five-thousandths of a second (0.005secs) but had the lap time deleted for running wide at the second to last corner of the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin.

As a result, Verstappen will start sixth, which should make the race on Sunday more exciting.

Earlier, Verstappen voiced his frustration over the team radio, accusing his teammate Sergio Perez of putting him in dirty air on the last corner, causing him to lose grip.

Verstappen caught Perez at the final corner of his first run of Q3, with the turbulent air only causing him to settle for third-fastest.

“Well done, well f—ing done there,” Verstappen said.

“What the f— was that in the last corner? F—ing bullshit.”

With Verstappen’s time deleted, Leclerc, who was on provisional pole earlier in Q3, won the pole for Sunday’s race.

“I knew at Turn 19 that it was going to be a close call,” Verstappen said afterwards.

“I had a little mistake at Turn 1, so had to really push for it in the rest of the lap.

“I didn’t even understand, I just tried to maximize the corner and I misjudged it by a little bit.

“It’s very fine margins when you are pushing to the limit. It’s unfortunate, but it [starting 6th] makes Sunday more fun,” lamented Verstappen.