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Red Bull Racing advisor Dr Helmut Marko appreciated Max Verstappen after he clinched the pole position in Saudi Arabia, battling McLaren's Oscar Piastri and beating him by a slim margin. Marko claimed that McLaren had been bluffing since the third practice session.
McLaren seemed to be the team to beat since the start of the weekend in Saudi Arabia, and Verstappen was able to take on that challenge well with his pole position in qualifying. After Lando Norris crashed out early in the session, the Dutchman remained in competition with his teammate, Oscar Piastri, beating the pole time by just 0.010s.
Although the McLaren has looked extremely fast on the circuit, Helmut Marko claimed that the team was bluffing their pace since FP3.
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"McLaren bluffed strongly in FP3 and had very little fuel in the car," Marko said (Sky Sports via RacingNews365).
He further mentioned that Red Bull modified the car for the qualifying session, which Max Verstappen could capitalize on, also revealing that the car works better in cooler temperatures.
"In addition, we recalibrated the car for qualifying, and Max drove an unparalleled lap, he lost some time in the second sector, but the last corner was incredible," he added. "The cooler it gets, the better the car is, but the set-up was the right one. McLaren's bluff annoyed us all, and after Lando Norris hit the wall, we realised [pole] was possible."
Max Verstappen expects challenges in the race today despite qualifying
Although Verstappen will have the advantage going into turn 1 after the race start today, he does not expect it to be an easy victory. Overtaking is possible around Jeddah, considering the track's nature. Moreover, with the walls closing in on every corner, it can be a challenging race.
Speaking of his qualifying session, Max Verstappen admitted that he did not expect to be on pole position, but mentioned that the final tweaks to the car delivered enough grip to clinch P1.
"[I'm] very happy," Max Verstappen said (via F1). "I definitely didn’t expect to be on pole here, especially after FP3 looking at how the whole weekend was. The car came alive in the night, we made some final changes and it was a lot more enjoyable to drive, the grip was coming to me and around here a Qualifying lap is extremely difficult because of all the walls, you need to try and nail it."
He then discussed a potential challenge he could face from his competitors, assessing that it would be "tough" to remain in the lead.
"It’s really satisfying to be first here in Qualifying which is of course the best position for tomorrow, even though I think tomorrow in the race it will be tough to keep them behind but we’re going to give it a good go."
The championship lead is expected to change tonight in Saudi Arabia, considering Lando Norris's crash during qualifying, putting him in a difficult position. Moreover, the top three in the standings, Norris, Piastri, and Verstappen, are separated by only eight points, with the latter two starting on the front row.
