F1 | Max: “I have to win, but I’ll keep an eye on what happens behind…”
The four-time world champion delivered his eighth pole position of the season and did the maximum possible by placing himself ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Tomorrow the Dutch driver will try to win, but he will also keep an eye on the MCL39s to understand whether something might happen behind him that could help him strategically.
Max Verstappen secured his eighth pole position of the season at Yas Marina, more than any other driver in 2025. He did it at exactly the right moment, because tomorrow he will have the chance to start ahead of everyone in the final race of the season, giving himself the opportunity to chase victory and hope that something behind him might unfold in his favour to collect the points he needs to claim the fifth world title of his career.
Max produced two exceptional laps in Q3. After saving a set of Soft tyres in Q2, the five-time world champion benefited from Yuki Tsunoda’s slipstream during the first of his two attempts—already fast enough for pole—but then he improved by another 88 thousandths in the second run, this time without using any tow.
“In Q2 I used a set of used tyres. I was already feeling quite good and I gave it a try,” Max said at the end of qualifying. “Then usually in Q3 the track gets better and I was able to push a bit more.”
“We found more performance and I am happy to be on pole. It’s the best we could do, the only thing we can control is trying to get the most out of what we have, and we managed that in qualifying.”
Yesterday Red Bull seemed to have gone in the wrong direction with the setup. Instead, with the track more rubbered in, Max was able to fully exploit the car and pull out the classic rabbit from the hat.
“We had to guess how much the track would improve, because the temperature drops a lot and you can never be 100 percent sure that the setup choice will work. But I think the changes we made helped me feel better in qualifying.”
Tomorrow Max Verstappen will only have two options: the first is to win the race. The second could be something similar to what Lewis Hamilton did with Nico Rosberg in 2016—control the race pace to help the drivers behind him, meaning George Russell and Charles Leclerc, catch up and put pressure on the McLarens.
“We’ll see what we can do. I will try to win the race, but we also need to score the points necessary to win the championship. So yes, somewhere in the back of our mind we will also be thinking about that. And we will need a bit of luck regarding what happens behind us.”
Starting from pole with both title rivals directly behind him, the four-time champion has put himself in the perfect position to write another chapter in his remarkable story. One more race, one more masterclass in pressure – that’s all that stands between Max Verstappen and history.
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