Triple world champion Verst🍃appen grabbed the final pole position of the year at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a convincing performance in qualifying. 

It followed a difficult final practice 🧸in which Verstappen was off the pace after complaining about the balance and handling of his Red Bull. 

But set-up changes between the two sessions proved key as Verstappen went on to beat Ferrari’s🌳 Charles Leclerc to his 12th pole of a dominant 2023 campaign. 

Following the che⛎quered flag, an🍃 amusing team radio exchange between the Dutchman and team principal Horner on the Red Bull pit wall took place, revealing a bet had taken place. 

Marko placed a €500 wager with Horner that Versta🃏ppen would not make the♛ front row after his FP3 struggles. 

“Well done mate. You’ve just won me €500 euros from Helmut♏ [Marko], which is like getting blood out oඣf a stone,” Horner said.

Verstap🦩pen replied: “Helmut lost a bet? What🦩 world are we living in?

Horne꧙r wentဣ on to explain: “The bet was for you to be on the front row.”

To which, Verstappen responded: “Ha ha, nice.”

Speakin🅠g in the post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen joked: “I think Helmut learned his lesson - never bet against me! 

“Of course it was a bit of a gamble because you don't know. We try a lot of t𒊎hings on the car, which didn't really seem to solve the problem. 

“But yeah, I think GP stayed calm and he definitely went through a lot of options. And then with my feedback, he came up with a with a vꦇery good set-up for qualifying. 

“So very, very h꧟appy with that. But of course it's always a bit of a gamble. You’re never 100% sure and missing FP1, probably would have still been tough to get it right for FP2 an🎉d FP3.”