Horner praises Verstappen: 'A mighty lap by Max'

Christian Horner has seen Max Verstappen drive few better qualifying sessions than in Monaco today. The Red Bull Racing team boss saw it go every which way, but ultimately saw his own driver come out on top and drive the fastest time of the day.

"We chose a different strategy where we went for two laps of cooling and then another push lap, and then another final lap on a new set of tyres. Max knew what to do, and when he arrived at the pool, he was two-tenths behind Fernando's lap. He found time in the last sector, it was a great, powerful performance. I think that was one of his best qualifying sessions," Horner said at Viaplay.

It could go either way in qualifying, as even Esteban Ocon in his Alpine briefly went to the fastest time in Q3. Then Charles Leclerc took over and then Alonso. "You could hear the crowd going crazy for Charles. Then came Alonso, and at that point we were fourth. It's all about that last lap. Max is so good under pressure, and with his experience, he really makes the difference at these moments."