The Suzuka weekend has unfolded unusually, with FP2 effectively being washed out by drizzle, which meant the teams spent most of FP3 on Saturday morning concentrating on long-run data gathering, rather than the typical qualifying simulation efforts.
In these, Verstappen trailed his team-mate Sergio Perez by an average of 0.122 seconds each time, while both were trumped by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on a similar stint-length to the tune of a 0.482s average advantage using the medium tyres that are expected to be the key compound for race strategy.
Verstappen ultimately beat Perez to pole in Suzuka qualifying, while Leclerc could only manage eighth, four spots behind Carlos Sainz in the other SF-23.
When asked by Autosport if he was surprised to see Ferrari fall from the pole fight it has engaged Red Bull in at the previous early 2024 rounds, Verstappen replied: "I cannot look inside the Ferrari garage [and say] why that is.
"But, it's quite obvious that in the long run, they seem quite competitive. So, we'll see tomorrow why that is or if it actually is the case like that.
"From our side, I have some ideas of what we have to look into to make tomorrow better and that's what we already changed [on car set-up] after FP3.
'So, hopefully, that will be better for tomorrow. Our race pace is still not too bad, but it's not how I have been feeling in some of the races this year and last year. As comfortable, let's say like that.
Source: Autosport