Formula 1: Max Verstappen throws shade at Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari

After qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, the 17th race of the 2018 Formula 1 season, Max Verstappen threw shade at Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari.

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen qualified in third place for the 17th race of the 2018 Formula 1 season, the Japanese Grand Prix, which is higher than many people expected him to qualify. He qualified behind only Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport teammates Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who are set to start the race in first and second, respectively.

Verstappen had such a great third and final qualifying session for the 53-lap race around the 18-turn, 3.609-mile (5.807-kilometer) Suzuka Circuit road course in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan largely due to the fact that a bad strategy gamble was taken by Scuderia Ferrari during this session.

Ferrari teammates Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen began this session on intermediate tires, but they quickly discovered that the track was not yet wet enough to allow them to gain an advantage from being on these intermediate tires.

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As a result, both drivers came into the pits as soon as they possibly could, but not after wasting valuable time that they could have been using to try to record fast lap times.

Raikkonen was able to record a decent lap time on his supersoft tires, and he qualified in fourth place as a result of it. However, Vettel was unable to do so. He provisionally qualified in ninth, and then the rain really started to fall.

At this point, there was no hope for the 31-year-old German to record a great lap time regardless of which tire compound he was using. As a result, he ended up qualifying in ninth place.

After the session ended, Verstappen was interviewed about the fact that he qualified in third place at a track where not many people expected him to do so. Many people believed that Vettel if not both Vettel and Raikkonen would be able to qualify higher on the grid than he did because of the fact that Ferrari have had an advantage over Red Bull Racing at power-heavy circuits.

When Verstappen was asked whether or not he would want to get in the way of the driver championship battle between Hamilton and Vettel and the constructor championship battle between Mercedes and Ferrari if Raikkonen and/or Vettel are able to catch up to him in tomorrow’s race, the 21-year-old Dutchman threw shade at Vettel and Ferrari.

Here is what Verstappen had to say about the matter.

"“Is it still a battle? I’m not sure.”"

Hamilton leads Vettel by 50 points (306 to 256) in the driver standings, and with just five races to go and a maximum of 125 points left on the table for each driver, the driver championship battle is effectively over.

Meanwhile, Mercedes lead Ferrari by 53 points (495 to 442) in the constructor standings, and with just five races to go and a maximum of 215 points on the table for each team, the constructor championship battle is effectively over as well.

To answer Max Verstappen’s question, no, it really isn’t a battle. As a result, don’t expect him to yield to Kimi Raikkonen and/or Sebastian Vettel if he ends up battling them for positions in tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix, which is set to be broadcast live from Suzuka Circuit beginning at 1:10 a.m. ET on ESPN2. Be sure not to miss it, as just four races will remain on the 2018 Formula 1 schedule once it reaches its conclusion.