Max Verstappen has made quite the routine of putting himself on the podium this season. The Red Bull driver is more often than not in P3, if not separating the two Mercedes cars in P2.

However, many a time Verstappen has found himself all alone on the grid as the two Mercedes (especially that of Lewis Hamilton) speed of in the distance.

As such, even a podium finish doesn’t suffice for the Dutchman. Using a weird metaphor, Max elaborated his point.

He said, “Normally they are running away from me, like 3-4 tenths a lap. So, I’m a bit in no man’s land, which is not what you want.

“I mean, it’s nice to be on the podium. But at the end of the day, being there as the third guy, it feels a bit like third wheeling, you know, if you go out for dinner.

It’s not very lovely. I prefer to be the one having the nice romantic dinner instead of the third wheel.”

Verstappen has managed to put his Red Bull on the podium in every single race he has completed this season. He perhaps could have been in 2nd place on the Drivers’ championship table, if it were not for some really rotten luck.

At Imola, Verstappen looked like a shoe in for a P2 finish. But in the final few laps, a cruel tire blowout ruled him out of the race. At the drivers’ press conference ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix, Verstappen said he was still not sure what caused the blowout.

Max Verstappen believes Pirelli are still investing Imola tire failure

The 23-year-old said, “No not yet, I guess they are still investigating. Looking at the onboards and videos with the team, we couldn’t really see anything weird happening. No debris hit or whatever.

“They will investigate it more and we’ll see what the outcome is.”

While his luck may not have favored him last time around, he’ll be hoping for much better at Istanbul Park. So far, on a skating rink like track conditions, Verstappen managed to set the quickest time in FP1.

He would want to build on that and end the weekend in the very same position once he crosses the checkered flag.