Max Verstappen has said his on-the-limit run to pole position in the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was comparable to when he hit the wall in qualifying in 2021.
Verstappen had been on course to take pole for the inaugural race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit until a slide on the exit of the final corner saw him tag the barrier.
The Dutchman had not righted that error over the previous two visits, with a driveshaft failure in the second stage last term thwarting his chances on that occasion.
However, Verstappen produced a storming opening lap to take his maiden pole in Saudi Arabia, despite being unable to improve on his second push attempt in Q3.
“Yeah it was a very good day,” Verstappen reflected. “We improved the car a little bit overnight and that gave me a bit more confidence to attack the high-speed corners.
And around here, of course, it all depends a lot on your confidence and how much you can go to the limit. I really think today I felt comfortable with the car.
“Throughout qualifying it’s pretty crazy how fast you go around here, especially I think on my first lap in Q3 I was very happy with, how I did the lap.
“It felt almost a bit like the failed 2021 lap! It was very good, I had a lot of fun and the car was behaving really well.”
Verstappen had ventured out with the intention of improving on his 1:27.472s benchmark, but a mistake through the Turn 9 and 10 sequence saw him abandon the lap.
“The first one was a very good lap and the second one I had a little moment between [Turns] 9 and 10, so I lost momentum and from there onwards,” he revealed.
“Also, I knew that the previous lap was very good, so I was like I don’t want to risk potentially damaging the car, maybe matching the lap time again, if I would really put everything together. But that’s why, yeah. I just lost a bit of momentum there and a little bit out of the last corner.”
“But yeah, once you see that you’re a bit down already on your lap time on a street circuit, especially like sometimes I guess it’s better to just finish the lap and just deal with it.”
Verstappen retained the same three-tenth margin he held over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in Bahrain, but Red Bull’s race pace has tended to be superior to its one-lap speed.
Despite recording a dominant 22-second win last weekend, the three-time champion highlighted how the close proximity of the barriers at Jeddah can create chaos.
“As we have seen in past also there have been a lot of crazy races around here, a lot can happen,” Verstappen acknowledged.
“Normally obviously people say ‘It’s a one-stop, it’s easy to the line’, but it’s not like that around here.
“A lot of straights as well, but I’m confident with the race we have that tomorrow the car will work really well.”
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