Fernando Alonso put it best.
‘Only he can do it. There is no other driver at the moment that can drive a car and put it so high, higher than the car deserves.’
The man he is referring to is of course Max Verstappen. Though ‘man’ does not seem an apt term given the lap from the gods Verstappen plucked from nowhere to claim pole for tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix.
His time was just 0.012 seconds ahead of Lando Norris but scarcely believable given the struggles of the Dutchman’s unstable car this weekend.
Few gave him much chance of mixing it with the McLarens. Not for the first time, Verstappen made us all look foolish.
Max Verstappen produced a new lap record to take pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix
Engineers were left to marvel at Verstappen’s ‘insane’ final lap to beat both McLaren drivers
It was a timely reminder from F1 world champion Verstappen (left) to McLaren’s young guns
‘A lot of happiness when I crossed the line,’ said the four-time world champion. ‘But all of qualifying we just kept on trying to improve the situation a bit and then the final lap was obviously very good.
‘Being fully committed everywhere, some places not sure if I was going to actually keep it or not, but it was really nice and great for the team as well.
‘I think if you look at how our season started, even this weekend, yeah it’s very unexpected. That makes it a very special one.’
His boss Christian Horner went as far to label it as one of his best ever. It’s hard to disagree with the Red Bull head honcho.
All eyes at the start of the day were on the McLaren pair and their papaya rocket ships which have dominated play so far this season. Verstappen, meanwhile, looked destined for a day of playing catch-up.
But the reigning world champion cast aside doubts about his machine in a way only the greatest driver of his generation can.
Norris had already laid down his early marker. Surely enough for pole, he would’ve assumed as Verstappen embarked on his final run.
But then came the Red Bull driver. Roaring around the long and winding corners of this famous circuit, despite clearly being unsure as to the limits of his car.
Red Bull team principal described it as one of Verstappen’s best ever qualifying performances
It takes breathtaking bravery to do so on a high-speed track such as this. The consequences of pushing just an inch or two too far do not bear thinking about.
But Verstappen got it just right, his whoops and hollers of delight over the team radio upon learning he had secured pole telling.
‘I don’t go into the lap fully confident and comfortable, so the last lap I was like ‘well I’m just going to send it in and see what we get’,’ he revealed.
‘It’s very rare a lap like that can stick, but this time it worked well. We keep working, we know we have some issues we want to solve but it’s clearly not easy to solve at the moment.’
Norris was magnanimous after being squeezed out by his rival. Even he could only admire the lap Verstappen produced.
‘Congrats to Max, he did a good job,’ said Norris, whose team-mate, Oscar Piastri, will start third.
‘I was pretty happy with my lap. I was happy with the balance and happy with the car in the end. The margins are so, so small, there was like one-hundredth (of a second) in it. Just not enough for pole today.’
It was a bad day, however, for Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion could only qualify eighth fastest. ‘Not good enough from my side,’ was the Ferrari driver’s verdict.
Formula One fever has gripped Japan – but it’s been tough sledding so far for Lewis Hamilton
A brighter session, though, for young Brit Oliver Bearman, who continues to go from strength to strength in his debut season.
He produced his best qualifying performance of the season and will start just two spots behind Hamilton in 10th.
Bearman said: ‘I loved every moment and the car was responding to everything I did which is always a good feeling. I had so much fun.’
