Verstappen impresses Horner: 'He was working late into the night'.

Christian Horner is more than satisfied with his driver. Max Verstappen recovered from his poor results in the practice sessions on Saturday and took pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix. However, the Red Bull Racing team boss thinks Charles Leclerc was slightly faster on Saturday.

"He had a difficult day yesterday, and was on the back foot. But it was important to recover. What impressed me with that qualifying was his lap on the scrubbed tyres in Q2. That saved him a set of tyres for tomorrow," Horner told Sky Sports. Verstappen's time on used tyres was good enough for Q3, meaning the Dutchman did not have to come out for a second run.

Leclerc recorded provisional pole position after his first run in Q3, but Verstappen eventually dipped below his rival's time. "A very small, but good margin. I think this year the intensity isn't quite the same as the championship fight we had last year. Having got that championship and that 1 on the car, you can see it has released him from that certain element of pressure. He is gaining more experience and developing," the Red Bull team boss continued.

Verstappen late into the night

Horner also talks about the relationship between Verstappen and his engineering team. After the dramatic Friday at Red Bull, the Dutchman worked hard with his team to improve the car. "He got behind the team crunching the numbers late into the night at MK and on the simulator. It's all about team work. To come back and get pole position is beyond what we expected today."

Sergio Perez did slightly less well, with the Mexican ending up in the wall in the closing stages of his final run in Q3. This forced a number of other drivers behind Perez to abort their fast lap. "It's a shame that Checo couldn't finish the lap because he could have finished on the second row. Leclerc is a sniff quicker. He might have made a mistake on he's last lap and Max nailed it. That was the difference today."