Verstappen, who led Q1 and Q2, had to stop for a first round error in Q3.

That leaves him in ninth, a position he could remain in if the red flag interrupts his second attempt, which is exactly what happened after Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari.

Despite his apparent frustration – exacerbated by the fact that Red Bull team-mate and title rival Sergio Perez was on pole – Verstappen tried to remain optimistic, saying he wanted to get back to “minimum P2”.

“It’s unfortunate, of course,” he said when asked about the third quarter. “But first of all, of course, we didn’t do a lap. That was my fault. But, yeah, it was very tricky.

“I was a little off the line in sixty-seven and I felt a little understeer and I just couldn’t get it right. So I dropped my knee.

“Of course, you need a little bit of luck and hope that the red flags don’t come up. But, of course, when you try to think that way, it happens. So, it’s kind of frustrating.

“I mean we were very fast all weekend, my Q2 lap was quick enough even to be on pole in Q3.

“So, I guess it’s saying that we have a very fast car. But you need to put it all together, and where it matters, we don’t. That’s a little frustrating for me.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19

Photography: Steven Tee / motorsport pictures

He added: “I’m still annoyed with myself, but I also know that tomorrow is a new day and a lot can happen.

“It’s not ideal, but there’s no need to be super angry or upset about it now. But you learn from it. You’ll do better next time.”

Asked if he could have tried a second-lap banker in his first set, or knocked out early in his second, he admitted the team could have done things differently.

“We could have looked in hindsight and, yes, we could have gone out earlier as well,” he noted. “But at the end of the day, I made a mistake. We certainly didn’t intend for me to make a mistake.

“Of course, you say, ‘Okay, let’s go early so we can get going.’ I’m still way ahead of those cars. But you don’t expect a car to stall right away either. That It’s a street circuit and these things happen.”

Verstappen admitted that, unfortunately, the red flag was raised during the session in which he did not complete the bank lap.

“That’s why it’s just a little bit frustrating. I know it’s easy to do. I mean, we’re all at our limit, and one tiny mistake can knock you out instantly. That’s what happened to me today. But you still always want to try to be perfect, right? And that’s not good.”

Verstappen stressed he will not let the disappointment of qualifying affect him.

“I know I’m not going to win a title tomorrow,” he said. “And I’ve been in that position before. Sometimes you get a little bit of a setback, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be the rest of the year or whatever.

“I mean, it can’t all be perfect. You hope it’s going to be perfect. I think last year, we had a tough start, but you still have to make some improvements yourself. It wasn’t perfect today.”

Asked what he hoped to achieve in Sunday’s race, he replied: “P2 minimum.”