Verstappen and Red Bull, a deadly combination. Thank you, Max. F1 and true fans of this sport can only applaud your performance, which proves that the driver can still make a huge difference. The pole position achieved in today’s qualifying is pure magic. Starting from pole had seemed, since yesterday, like a matter reserved for the two McLaren drivers.
Drivers who had shown they could dominate the front row with ease. Among Andrea Stella’s team’s competitors, the Milton Keynes-based squad seemed the most behind. As often happens, Friday was very complicated for the team led by Christian Horner. The few laps completed during the second free practice session didn’t allow the teams to gather the necessary amount of data.
Because of the many interruptions in the session, modifying and refining the base setup decided before the race weekend wasn’t easy. Once again, the Austrian team’s engineers managed to tweak the RB21’s configuration enough to at least stay in touch with their rivals. Even so, the third free practice session was not positive at all.
Verstappen told the team he had regained a bit of confidence at the front, but at the same time, he felt a strong instability in the rear. A problem the Dutch ace reported to Lambiase (his race engineer), explaining that the RB21 behaved inconsistently from one corner to the next. A very unpleasant feeling, as it robs the driver of confidence when attacking the fast corners of the Japanese track.
McLaren unbeatable? Not for Max
Jos’s son went into qualifying with more doubts than certainties. In the first two segments of qualifying, Max showed that car number 1 could aim for the second row. Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda failed to get through Q2, finishing only fifteenth. Yet another demonstration that you can put anyone in the RB21, and in the end, the result is always the same.
The ace from Hasselt definitely places the car in positions above its technical level. At the same time, it’s another clear sign that Red Bull will have to work hard to develop a platform that suits drivers who don’t have the Dutchman’s ability. Until Q2, Max’s gap to the front was always more than two tenths.
A deficit that didn’t inspire dreams of glory. The three-time world champion reported a lack of grip in Q1. But in the second run of Q3—there was the magic. A lap that will go down in the history of the sport, because—as the world champion himself admitted—it allowed him to beat the papaya-coloured cars, currently clearly ahead of the competition, and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
The team and Alonso celebrate a memorable performance
Helmut Marko explained that Lambiase suggested some clearly non-invasive changes so as not to turn the car inside out. The rest was done by Verstappen, who took a pole that even the Austrian team thought was out of reach. The magnitude of what the Dutch driver accomplished was celebrated by Fernando Alonso. The two-time Spanish world champion shared his view.
He said that only Verstappen is capable of such feats, lifting a car far beyond what it deserves. According to the driver from Oviedo, today was a memorable day for F1. In the heat of the moment, Max repeated that work is still needed to improve the car. He knows he can make the difference—if the car at least allows him to fight.
When someone told him he had done a Senna-like lap, Jos’s son pointed out that he had done something similar in Qatar too, but—due to silly reasons—the pole had been taken away. A jab he once again wanted to deliver, and rightly so, we might add. A clear reference to the impeding on George Russell in Losail last season.
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