As the first car to leave the pit lane for the final session, Verstappen’s lap was disrupted by strong gusts of wind, causing him to make errors and ultimately forcing him to abort the lap and return to the pits. With hopes of redeeming himself on the final flying lap, Verstappen’s opportunity was cut short when Leclerc’s incident brought out the red flag, prematurely ending the session and condemning Verstappen to a lower starting position than expected.
Despite the setback, Verstappen displayed unwavering confidence in his ability to replicate his podium finish from the previous race in Saudi Arabia, where he started P15. Expressing his disappointment with his own mistake, he acknowledged the challenge he created for himself but believed in his capacity to overcome it.
