Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes that the floor damage Max Verstappen picked up during qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix cost him about one tenth of a second per lap.
Despite the damage, the Dutchman was still able to grab a fourth career pole position, almost four tenths clear of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in second.
Verstappen has led throughout the weekend, dominating all three practice sessions, and will now try and seal a season-opening victory on Sunday.
"He smacked the bottom of the car pretty hard, because they run so low, that we've lost a couple of bits of carbon under the front of the car there," Horner told Sky Sports F1.
"Maybe he was carrying about a tenth's worth of damage through the rest of the sessions.
"If you think in the first run of Q1, when it's not that pressured, then you think 'oh no'. Not to big up that damage, but he's handled that incredibly well."
Red Bull have struggled to get off to a fast start in recent years, with Mercedes taking pole at the opening race every year since 2014.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit have now put an end to that run, but Horner will not allow his team to get carried away.
"That's what you always aim for," he added.
"Of course the last few years it hasn't really materialised. But in a way the regulations haven't really changed a lot and I think we knew what our weaknesses were last year. And it seems like we addressed them so far at the beginning of the year.
"Of course I'm very happy with that. Great start for us but of course no guarantees for the future."
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