Suzuka, Japan – “It is. He’s. He’s crazy. That’s crazy!”
Engineer Max Verstappen, Gianpiero Lambiase, rarely sounds as impressed as on the radio when his driver’s position for the Japanese Grand Prix was confirmed.
He passed this routine 40 times ago, congratulations to Verstappen after a good job.
But this pole, 41. Career Verstappen, felt particularly strange. After the Red Bull Fight to fully connect with the RB21 to Verstappen, it made a number of experiments settings to try to get some answers to the Suzuka, plus the domination of McLaren in the early part of this season to catch the pole in this way. Klap was also a new record in Suzuka.
Verstappen’s lush reaction on the radio summed up his surprise. “Yes, people!” Replied to Lambias. “Lords, what bike.”
After crossing the line, he saw his name appearing on P1 on the TV screen, but with the Provisional Pole Oscar Piastri to finish his bike, it was not a certain thing. Piastri fell on four hundredths short and left him in the third place on the grid behind Verstappen and McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who was just 0.012 seconds outside the pole.
Verstappen has never been a fan of comparison, he said at a press conference after he qualified that it was “difficult” to postpone it as his best F1 position. “If you look at how our season has started, even this weekend, it’s very unexpected,” Verstappen said, admitting, “That’s probably very strange.”
Max Verstappen on the track during the qualification before the Japanese Grand Prix (Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Little would disagree. Twelve months ago, the dominant accusation of Verstappen for the pole and the victory in Suzuka made Mercedes Boss this Wolff to write off the rest of the season, believed that the Dutch had already won the Red Bull championship, which seemed perfect.
Since then, the picture has changed so much into F1. Verstappen is now Underdog against Norris and Piastri in the superior McLaren, Red Bull, who has since slipped back in the order of kneeling. This only causes his gifts behind the wheel to shine even more on that day.
“That was one of his career bikes,” said Red Bull’s head Christian Horner after F1 TV after the meeting. “That was excellent.”
The double world champion Fernando Alonso was blown out and watched Verstappen’s round between his post-qualifying interviews in the media Peru. “The flap he did is just up to him,” Alonso told reporters. “Apparently the car is not at the level to fight for the pole or even the first five.
“At the moment it is the best, the link for all of us. We must constantly improve to achieve this level.”
Verstappen had to give him everything in the last round in Q3. The whole weekend was watched by McLaren cars in the Suzuka circuit, in a circuit where he was not defeated in the qualifying or in the race in six years.
Red Bull was constantly trying to set up the car to find some answers and improve the balance, so it had the desired confidence for the track as fast and unforgivable as Suzuka, improved weight distribution, aerodynamic balance, wings, stripes and hanging. No stone was left.
It was still not enough for Verstappen to leave completely cool. After the qualification, he admitted that the balance of the car was still not entirely according to his wishes, although he took the pole. Verstappen, however, entered the last run in the fourth quarter and watched Piastri by two tenths of a second and knew he had to give him everything.
“I had a lot of fun there, I was fully engaged everywhere,” Verstappen said. “Some places, I wasn’t sure if I would actually keep it (on the track) or not.”
The first gambling came in the first corner, a long right -handed, where the speed transmitted via the driver to follow the essays. Verstappen carried up to 25 km/h greater corner and hoped to prepare for a faster east. In his previous rounds, he got a hundred seconds of seconds, but at the time he got out of Esen, Verstappen was several thousandths of the second slower than before. There was more time to find.
He did not bake over Dunlop, the long left -wing, as in the previous round and built it on the Degnors, a follow -up right, which loop under the track under crossing. In the previous round, the first dener braked on the first turn and held a bit of the throttle. Not this time. A larger elevator, but no touch of the brake pedal at all was a faster way and gained it half a tenth.
Then came the hairpin, the corner of the slow speed, where Verstappen braked a little later, maintaining his speed to catch another half a tenth in this process before sweeping the surface on the spoon. The corner is one of the shortest on the track and takes a few seconds to set the driver on his back straight. Getting the right guidance is difficult, but Verstappen braked later and longer than the previous round before the next fine application at the exit. In addition, 6-7 km/h, which took the corner, again joined another piece of time.
Max Verstappen (L) together with McLaren duo Lando Norris (C) and Oscar Plastri. (MoHD Rasfan/AFP through Getty Images)
Verstappen identified all these horns like where he felt that the most risk was raised in his pole bike. “The places that were like, I hope it will stick to it,” he said.
But it was Chicane, Casio Triangle, where Verstappen really made a difference. Horner admitted that part of “this weekend was not our strongest point”, but Verstappen created another magic to find time. A moment later, at early, it meant that the heavier throttle could get out of the first right turn before the next elevator to slow it down for the switch. When the car worked to get away, Verstappen kept him under full control before returning to the gas and sweeping on the line.
Klap was only 0.012 seconds to the pole position. If one of these corners got badly or missed any of these profits, it would probably fall behind both McLarens and dramatically changed its view of the race on the track where it is difficult to overtake.
Instead, Verstappen will again lead the field from the position of the pole in Suzuka. The threat of rain overnight – which would be welcome to soak the grass and stop another fire – could complicate things, but in such a Verstappen management it is difficult to see something that stops him.
A smile on his face after qualifying summed up how the rewarding pole was Verstappen on one of his favorite songs. When the reporter asked him to explain the feeling of nailing around the Suzuka, Verstappen replied, “If you want to drive a car, I can go. I think you are driving your pants.” (Then he looked at the delegate of the Media FIA to ask if he could say that, the reference to last year’s Hoo-hah over him and swore to a press conference.)
Saturday was a reminder if we needed it as soon as Verstappen could. The four -time world champion this year does not have to have the fastest car. But again for Red Bull was the creator of the difference.
The final driver on the Ultimate Driver and adds a bike that will live in memory of the extremely successful F1 Verstappen career for a long time.
(Upper photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
