Max Verstappen: Mercedes/Ferrari “turned their engines up more than us”

Verstappen had out-paced Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in FP2 by three tenths on Friday and matched their long run race pace, looking to be a potential contender.
 
But the Monegasque diminished any thought when he took pole, seven tenths ahead of the Dutch driver in fourth.
 
Due to a new spec engine brought in for Red Bull Verstappen served a five-place grid penalty, dropping him down to ninth which he worked his way back up from to finish fourth.

"Well, they [Ferrari and Mercedes] turned their engines up more than us,” Verstappen said (quoted by Autosport) when asked about his competitiveness.

“And, I think maybe they were not happy with their car balances - I was straight away quite happy with mine.

"Anyway this track is not suitable for us, so I guess it was just a really good Friday, where we nailed straight away the set-up, and for them it took a while to settle in."

Verstappen’s teammate Alex Albon started from the pitlane after crashing out in qualifying and drove superbly to secure his second top five finish since joining the team from Toro Rosso in the summer.