MAX VERSTAPPEN took pole for the final race of the season – winning his boss Christian Horner a €500 bet in the process.
Horner had a wager with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko that Verstappen would qualify on the front row for tomorrow’s race.
The Dutchman had struggled during practice and had complained about the handling of his car.
During Friday’s practice he was fortunate to escape without even a ticking off for passing Hamilton and Russell in the pitlane.
However, he blasted his way to P1 ahead of Ferrari‘s Charles Leclerc and McLaren‘s Oscar Piastri.
After he crossed the line, Horner said: “Well done mate. You have just won me 500 euros out of Helmut, which is like getting blood out of a stone.”
Verstappen replied: “Helmut lost a bet? What world are we living in?”
He later added: “What a turn around because practice was not looking that good. I was struggling with the balance and made some changes and from lap one, I was a lot more connected and it felt a bit better.
“It shows that details make the difference because I was not so happy until qualifying and then it turned in my favour.”
It was Verstappen’s 32nd career pole and 12th of the season and means he is on course for his 19th win of the season in tomorrow’s race.
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It came after Lando Norris made a mistake on his final run and he qualified fifth.
However, Lewis Hamilton had another disastrous qualifying session to raise doubts as to whether he will ever be in position to challenge for wins.
Incredibly, it has been 721 days since his last victory, coming in Jeddah in the Saudi GP on December 5th, 2021.
Hamilton was eliminated from the second session and qualified down in 11th place while his teammate George Russell was fourth.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz also had a shocker and was a surprise scalp in Q1 and qualified in 16th place in his Ferrari.
