“Mind-blowing” Max Verstappen pole at Japanese GP hailed as ‘one of the greatest qualifying laps in F1 history’

Max Verstappen’s pole position lap at the Japanese Grand Prix has been labelled as “one of the great qualifying laps in F1 history” by Karun Chandhok. 

The Red Bull driver topped every session bar Q2 before capping off his dominance with a stunning lap to claim pole position at Suzuka, beating McLaren’s 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Oscar Piastri by a massive 0.581s. 

V🌊erstappen had already done enough to seal pole with his opening salvo in Q3 but improved further with a phenomenal final effort that left Sky pundit Chandhok in awe. 

"I'm still breathless watching that. I think that was one of the great qualifying laps in F1 history," ex-F1 dr💧iver Chandhok said.

"There's not much 🧸left on the table. The detail with which he drove - pinching little bits on the entry into Spoon Curve, 130R not using all the width. He thought about every metre and for me that's a driver who's ahead of the car.

"If they didn't have Max in the car, they would💜 be second on the grid.🌞”

Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing celebrates his pole position in qualifying parc ferme. Formula 1 World Championship,
Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing celebrates his pole position in qualifying parc ferme…

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was equally impressed and hailed his star driver’s perfo𝔍rmance as “mind-blowing”. 

"I think what we have witnessed today is something very special,” H𒆙orner told Sky. 

“That last lap, just have a look at Turn Five. That first sector was absolu💜tely mighty. 

"That first run looked good enough to get the job done b🥂ut then he went quicker again. All his laps have been stunning today. An absolutely minꦕd-blowing performance.”

Verstappen, who is on the verge ofꦆ winning his third world title in a row, admitted the lap "brought a smiಌle to my face”. 

"It's been good from Lap 1 onwards. It g🍌ave me a🎶 lot of confidence. Of course, throughout the weekend, you make little adjustments to the car, especially in Qualifying for Q3,” the Dutchman told Sky. 

"When you have that confidence, especially in Sector 1, you can really push🌞 it to the limit in a controlled way. It brought a smile to my face while driving.

"You have pole positions where the lap feels quite OK, but it feels a bit ൲edgy or you think ther😼e was a bit more lap time in it, or you can change the balance around a little bit.

"I think today and the whole weekend, I knew i🐽f෴ I went out, I could smash the lap time without having to think about it, whereas some other tracks it's a bit different. And that made it very enjoyable to drive."

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