“It’s a big boost for the team”: Verstappen on his mighty pole in Silverstone

Written by Meghana Sree

An incredibly tight Qualifying session at the British Grand Prix was all set to be dominated by McLaren and Ferrari, but Max Verstappen proved yet again that there’s no counting out the four-time World Champion as he stormed to pole ahead of the home favourites.

Max Verstappen clinched an unexpected pole at the British Grand Prix | Credit: Formula One

Leading up to Qualifying, Ferrari and home hero Lewis Hamilton were gearing up for a legendary pole position to challenge the seemingly untouchable McLarens, with their Free Practice runs placing them a cut above the rest.

While Friday hinted that it would be down to the top two teams in the Constructors’ Championship, Max Verstappen amped up his performance on Saturday in an optimised Red Bull with a low downforce set-up to prove that he remains the class of the field.

His Qualifying triumph comes off the back of practice sessions riddled with driveability problems on the car, lack of balance, steering issues and a long string of complaints over the radio as Verstappen claimed the car was “unbelievable” heading into the weekend.

Verstappen was the most sought-after driver on media day amid rumours of a Mercedes switch | Credit: Formula One

A hectic media day made matters worse for Red Bull amid rumours of Verstappen switching to Mercedes. However, despite the rumour mill in full swing and his Friday slumps, the Dutchman bounced back for Qualifying in true Verstappen fashion and clinched a statement pole position by squeezing every ounce of performance from the RB21.

In one of the narrowest Qualifying sessions this year, Verstappen capitalised on the scrappy final runs from Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Hamilton to set a scorching lap time of 1:24.892. 

Claiming a 44th career pole, Verstappen is now level with Sebastian Vettel for the most number of poles as a Red Bull driver.

Jumping out of the car after the electrifying session, Verstappen stated: “It was tricky out there with the wind, it was all shifting around a bit and around here with these cars, it is extremely sensitive to it. This is a proper track, when you have to go flat out you have to be super committed.

“We are quite quick on the straight, we have to wait and see what tomorrow will do but I am happy - it is a big boost for the team and excited to go racing tomorrow.”

A true dark horse in any session, Verstappen will now be intent to hold his lead through the 239 metres sprint to the first corner and keep his rivals at bay to deliver a much needed victory for the team. With wet weather - Verstappen's forte - and much faster cars behind him, the Red Bull driver will lead us off the grid for another historic British Grand Prix this Sunday.