Red Bull's Helmut Marko praises Max Verstappen for his front-row qualification

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said Max Verstappen's qualifying lap on Saturday was "magical." At the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday, Verstappen's lap secured him P2 on the starting grid. The Dutch driver had limited running heading into the qualifying session, as he suffered engine problems during Friday's practice session, which curtailed his on-track laps.

The three-time world champion looked off the pace in the FP3 session and was not on the same pace as his rivals. The qualifying did not bring respite for him as his first timed lap in Q3 was deleted due to track-limit violations.

However, he managed to secure a front-row start with his final lap of the Q3 session. This meant he was able to place his car ahead of his championship rival, Lando Norris, who will start the race from P3.

Speaking with Sky Germany after the qualifying session, Helmut Marko was full of praise for Max Verstappen and said (via RacingNews365):

"No, we lost three to four-tenths in the third sector and had to get that under control. Then it would look good, which it turned out to be. And of course, it was another magical lap from Max. After his lap was canceled, he held his nerve again and drove a perfect lap."

The Austrian also complimented Verstappen's mechanics and engineers for working on the car, adding:

"We have to praise the engineers, a big compliment to them. They found the right direction for a car that works in a narrow window. I would also say that the higher temperatures, almost 13 degrees, helped us."

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Max Verstappen analyzes his P2 in the Mexican GP qualifying

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that qualifying on the front row behind Carlos Sainz was an "incredible" result for him given he did only four laps on Friday.

In his post-qualifying press conference, the 27-year-old spoke about the difficult circumstances and reflected,

"Yeah, I mean, yesterday I did, like, four laps, two laps on lower fuel and two laps on high fuel. So it was basically just a complete write-off, no information. So, yeah, for me, FP3 was very crucial. Tried to do as many laps as I could and, yeah, we were behind.

"I mean, the car was not feeling great and everything was just very difficult. So I knew that it was going to be a tough qualifying, but we made some final adjustments. It all started to feel better but to be on the front row, it's an incredible result for us."

Max Verstappen has won the last three Mexican Grands Prix in a row along with his triumphs in 2017 and 2018. The Red Bull driver will be looking to make it four wins in a row and will be in the hunt for a win from P2, a feat he previously accomplished in the 2018 edition of the race.