Max Verstappen delivers ‘big boost’ to Red Bull with emphatic British Grand Prix pole

Contract speculation is the reason the British Grand Prix began with Max Verstappen’s name on everyone’s lips in the Formula 1 paddock.

But his tremendous talent, and ability to extract the most out of his race car, are the reasons his name is on everyone’s lips as afternoon gave way to evening at Silverstone on Saturday.

The qualifying hour for the British Grand Prix opened with some familiar favorites tapped as contenders for pole position: Championship leader Oscar Piastri, hometown hero Lando Norris, and 2024 British Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton. All three showed moments of strength during the hour and as the clock ticked towards 00:00 in the final segment of qualifying it was Piastri’s name atop the timing charts.

However, Verstappen still had a chance to respond.

And respond he did, rocketing around Silverstone with a thunderous final push lap that was enough to put him at the front of the field when the lights go out in the main event Sunday.

“It was tricky out there with the wind,” said Verstappen trackside to Jolyon Palmer after the session.

“Throughout the whole of Qualifying it was shifting around a bit, and around here with these cars they are extremely sensitive to it.

“[I] just tried to tidy it up throughout Qualifying and that final lap was good enough. This is a proper track in Qualifying, where you have to go flat-out on all these corners, you have to be really committed and that’s really enjoyable.”

Red Bull made a setup change to Verstappen’s RB21 ahead of Saturday, opting for a low-downforce rear wing that saw the Dutch driver dominate the straights during Saturday’s qualifying session. As you can see in the telemetry data, courtesy of F1-Tempo, Verstappen was faster than Piastri on the straights Saturday, including hitting a top speed of 324 kilometers per hour at the spot indicated in the graph, which comes at the end of the Wellington Straight:

For comparison, Piastri’s top speed at that point was 318 kph which is certainly fast, but not as fast as Verstappen’s.

“Yesterday was quite tough and it was not looking great but the changes we made today helped a lot,” said Verstappen after the session to Sky Sports F1.

“In qualifying I thought we were close but not quite in the fight until the last lap when it all came together,” added Verstappen. “The balance was a bit nicer and I could hang in there We chose lower downforce and were naturally quicker in the straights. In the corners it was a bit more difficult.”

Verstappen conceded, however, that Sunday might be tougher given the race pace McLaren has shown all season long, as well as the Woking-based team’s ability to keep their tires in an optimum operating window longer than their rivals.

“Of course we have to wait and see what tomorrow will do, if there’s a bit of rain around or not. I’m happy of course with our Qualifying, it’s a big boost for the team as well and [I’m] just excited to go racing tomorrow,” described Verstappen.

“Difficult to say, but we’ll try,” added the driver when asked about battling with Norris and Piastri.

“We’re going to go racing, we’re going to have fun and try the best we can.”

Still, Saturday was yet another reminder of the magic Verstappen can deliver on the track, and why his name will always be on the lips of those in the paddock. As we have seen so many times before, when the situation calls for the ultimate performance, the four-time champion can rise to the occasion.