Despite his pole position at the Australian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen is dissatisfied with the Red Bull.

Despite complaining about understeer on his Red Bull vehicle throughout practice and qualifying, Max Verstappen concluded Saturday’s running at the top of the timesheets.

Max Verstappen said his pole position for the Australian Grand Prix was “unexpected” but he found his flow after making “tickles” to his car’s setup.

The Dutchman did not set the fastest time in any of Melbourne’s three practice sessions. And he spent a lot of time moaning on the radio about having too much understeer, particularly at the start of qualifying.

Despite these troubles, he achieved the quickest time in Q3, fighting off a challenge from Carlos Sainz. And the three-time Formula One winner confessed after the session that he was pleasantly delighted to have taken pole.

He stated, “I think so far this weekend, it has been a little difficult to achieve a nice balance in the car. Even during qualifying (Q1, Q2), I didn’t feel like pushing for pole.

“But then we made some small tweaks to the car, which seemed to help me push it to the limit in Q3. I was pleased with both of my laps. There are always areas where you can improve, but generally, I’m extremely pleased with the performance.”

Verstappen has now won pole position in all three races at the start of this new season. And, if he can convert this latest one into a win on Sunday, he would equal his own record of ten.

The 26-year-old stated that it had been “harder to find a good balance in the car”. But Red Bull has already demonstrated a significantly greater race pace than its competition this season.

Nonetheless, Verstappen intimated that he expected a more difficult battle than normal in Melbourne on Sunday. He added: “It appears that Ferrari has been quite fast and comfortable throughout the weekend. Hopefully, there will be an interesting race tomorrow.”