Max Verstappen enjoyed a “special qualifying” to claim pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix.
The local hero pipped Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by just 0.021s in a thrilling Q3 battle to delight the Orange Army at Zandvoort.
And Verstappen was particularly pleased by the turnaround he and Red Bull made after his Friday practice was disrupted by a gearbox issue in the morning.
“It was a special qualifying, especially after yesterday,” the reigning world champion said in Parc Ferme.
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“It was really tough, we changed a lot because yesterday was a bit rushed in FP2 to get the car together.
“We worked really well overnight with the whole team to turn it around and today was again enjoyable to drive.”
Talking through his pole lap, Verstappen continued…
“The last run was a bit compromised with the out-lap because of one extra car in front of me, then I had to slow down a bit too much in the first sector,” he explained.
It’s a lap that requires all a driver’s concentration and skill ?
Watch Max Verstappen charge up, down and around the Zandvoort track on his way to pole position ?#DutchGP @pirellisport pic.twitter.com/GSxpcuMvgx
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 3, 2022
“I knew that I was losing a bit of time there, so yes, just full risk, of course, in Q3. The tyres were not really switched on, then I managed to recover a bit in Sector 2 and that was just enough for pole.
“So yes, really happy with Q3 – really fine margins. A lap around here, a qualifying lap is insane.”
Having won the past two races from 10th and 14th on the grid, you’d think winning from pole at Zandvoort should be a doddle for Verstappen.
But he is anticipating a tight battle with Ferrari and Mercedes behind.
“I think we have a complete car,” he said.
“You can see how quickly it changes though, because in Spa we were dominant, here it looked a bit tricky initially, and now it was very close in qualifying.
“On higher downforce tracks, we seem to struggle a bit more to extract the best out of the car.
“But it’s still a quick car and after last night you see that the whole factory and here at the track, we made the right choice with the car and how to make it fast.
“I think it will be close, but basically for most of the races this year, it has been like that. And I’m looking forward to it, and I hope that we can have a good race.”