Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner applauded Max Verstappen after he secured pole position for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman pulled out a spectacular final lap to snatch pole from Oscar Piastri by just 0.010s.
Championship leader Lando Norris careered into the barriers at Turn 5, ending his qualifying session prematurely, leaving the sole McLaren of Piastri to battle it with Verstappen.
The Australian was the only one to set a lap time before the red flag was brought out, but as the cars returned to the track, he was soon dethroned at the top by the four-time World Champion.
Verstappen once again surpassed Piastri at the top of the timing sheets with his final lap to secure the 42nd pole position of his career.
After the qualifying session, Horner was quick to praise his star driver but noted that the result was especially surprising given the team’s performance in the final practice session.
“Yeah, I mean coming into that quali off the back of FP3 was all about who was going to be third and suddenly Q1, Max went quickest,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“You think ‘hang on, are McLaren sandbagging here?’
“Then Q2, we were right there again.
“We elected to do the two times, which puts you under pressure because if there’s any issue at all, you’ve lost that margin.
“What was super impressive for me… because you take the pit stop, you’ve got to carry the fuel, so he had six or seven kilos more fuel on that first lap, which he went quickest [and] put the pressure then on the other guys.
“Then again, his last lap was outstanding, and to get that pole, second in the last three races, is really rewarding and a phenomenal performance by Max and the team.”
Horner hails Verstappen after ‘deserving’ pole
The reigning World Champion trails Norris by just eight points after four races, with his impressive Q3 lap in Japan leading to his first win of the season.
After another stunning lap, this time at night around the Jeddah circuit, Verstappen could be set to steal another victory from the McLaren drivers.
Horner expressed that Verstappen is capable of delivering that “last ounce of performance” when needed to.
“It’s fantastic, I mean honestly, I did not believe that was possible going into that session,” the 51-year-old added.
“But it just shows, you never give up.
“We’ve got a great team and you keep fighting.
“You keep chasing the performance, and in Max, he’ll go and deliver you that last ounce of performance.
“So really, really deserving pole for him today.”
The stark contrast between qualifying and FP3 was clear to see, as Horner went on to explain the changes made by the Milton Keynes-based outfit to turn around its misfortunes.
“Well, of course, the engineers are continually looking to optimise the car,” he said.
“I think the setup changes that we made definitely helps and it gave him a car that he felt he could really attack with.
“But when you look at the margin, I think we all came out of FP3, almost slightly depressed thinking ‘christ, it’s a battle to be on the second row here’.
“But that margin just disappeared, and that can only be one of two things: either temperature or fuel loads.
“So yeah, fantastic for Max and the team to get our second pole of the year.”
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