Formula 1: Astonishing Verstappen ends pole thirst

Max Verstappen overjoyed stretched his right fist up. The Formula 1 world champion from Red Bull secured the pole position for the Grand Prix of Japan on Sunday (7:00 a.m. CEST/Sky) with a hammer round on the last trigger. The Dutch Red Bull Pilot in an impressive manner duped the McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piatri, who had to be satisfied with the positions behind the four-time world champion.

“Yeah, what a round,” Verstappen full of adrenaline called over radio on the Suzuka Circuit after his first pole this year. Overall, it was his 41st. However, he had to wait 280 days. Pole number 40 had won the 27-year-old in Austria at the end of June 2024.

Verapens Pole “Incredible”

“That was crazy,” said his racing engineer Gianpiero Lambiase after the magic round in the last seconds of the starting place hunt. Team boss Christian Horner praised his star pilot: “Incredible! We didn’t expect that. It was an excellent round of Max, one of his best rounds in qualifying.”

Verappen and Suzuka – this is a very special connection. Although he had sued the front tires during the qualification about a lack of hold and it is difficult to tame his stubborn Red Bull this season anyway, he still proved his extra class.

Hülkenberg’s car was “bitchy”

For Verstappen it was the fourth pole in Suzuka in a row – after that he also won the Grand Prix. “We did our best to find the best possible balance. It was not easy, but we improved a little in every session,” Verstappen described the progress in his car.

Nico Hülkenberg experienced a disappointment. The only current German Formula 1 pilot was cleaned in the kick in the first Kick in the first ko round. “It was a bit difficult to find the harmony,” said Hülkenberg. Since the wind also turned in the middle of the unit, his car was “bitchy”.

Norris cannot counter

The super round of Verstappen, which broke the previous route record of Lewis Hamilton (1: 30.983 minutes) with the old car generation from 2019 in 1: 26.983 minutes, McLaren was also unable to counter. Not the World Cup fourth Piatri and also not the World Cup leading Norris.

“I have the feeling that we were at the limit of what we had. But we just didn’t have enough today,” admitted Norris, who more than stapped eight points in the classification. The Englishman expects an “exciting race” that should become even more gripping due to rain forecast. “We want to come past Max, but he will fight a good fight,” said Norris.

Verstappen’s new teammate disappointed

Verstappen, entirely the clarified title holder, did not let his pole be dazzled. “I don’t say: I’m first, so I have no problems. There are points that we have to work on,” he said. At the end of last season, his Red Bull had noticeably reduced – only the world champion from the Netherlands was not.

Vappen’s new teammate, the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda, also has a lot of work. In front of his home audience, he missed the last co-round on the first Grand Prix weekend after his promotion to Red Bull. For Lewis Hamilton, the qualification as a eighth was also frustrating in Ferrari.