Max Verstappen has revealed that his race engineer suggested the Q3 run plan that saw him seize a surprise pole position at the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Verstappen had issued a dampener on Red Bull’s weekend prospects despite being the closest contender to the McLarens in the sole representative practice session.
But having headed the times in Q1, Verstappen produced a mesmerising lap at the death to emerge one hundredth quicker than Oscar Piastri to attain pole in Jeddah.
Lando Norris causing a disruption to the top-10 shootout when he crashed at Turn 4 with over eight minutes remaining prompted a dilemma up and down the pit lane.
However, unlike the team’s leading rivals, Red Bull chose to load Verstappen’s RB21 with sufficient fuel to complete two laps with a pit stop in between to switch tyres.
That paid dividends as the reigning F1 champion scooped provisional pole on his initial sighter run and then eclipsed Piastri’s improved effort with a new track record.
“All of qualifying went well, of course,” Verstappen told media including Motorsport Week.
“Around here, I think it’s always important to have quite a bit of rhythm, so naturally you do quite a lot of laps.
“Also the tyres, luckily, they hold on to do that.
“Of course, the red flag in Q3 is not ideal, but of course everyone has to deal with that.
“So we opted for that two-lap strategy. I’m happy that we did that, it just kept me on top of things and it felt good.”
Verstappen has divulged that it was his renowned race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase who proposed that he went out once the session resumed to post a banker time.
“With the crash, I think the only thing that it then meant was that, of course, you had to change your approach,” he explained. “I wasn’t entirely sure what to do.
“At the end of the day, GP said, let’s fuel it for two laps. You do the first lap on that used out-lap tyre. Then you pit and you go on to the new.
“Of course, naturally, you carry a bit more fuel, so you’re a bit slower in the first time. Yes, I think it was the right call.
“At the end, that was definitely the right thing to do for me at least in terms of the feeling I had with the car and building up to the limit.”
READ MORE – Max Verstappen pips Oscar Piastri to F1 Saudi Arabia pole, Lando Norris crashes
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