Verstappen delighted after pole: 'All praise for Honda and the team!

Red Bull Racing normally start the season rather slowly, but that will not be the case in 2021. Max Verstappen is delighted with his first pole position of the year and is confident of a successful weekend.

The smile Max Verstappen showed after his amazing qualifying lap spoke volumes and the Dutchman is therefore overjoyed with his performance today. “It’s a great feeling to be on pole and I haven’t experienced a season start like this. After the victory in Abu Dhabi the whole Team has been pushing really hard and even more motivated. There is still no guarantee for the rest of the year but everyone here and back at the factory have done a great job to give me a car like this and they should be very proud," Verstappen told Red Bull Racing's Team Review after qualifying.

But according to the Dutchman, it's not just the Red Bull Racing team that has been working hard this winter. "Honda have also been working very hard this winter, just like every year. They are flat out all of the time and like us they just want to win. It is really enjoyable working with them and they are very passionate which I like, so a big credit to Honda for the result today as they have had a great winter," the driver continued.

Finally some clarity after the winter test

Achieving pole position is great, but it doesn't mean the world championship is over, let alone tomorrow's race. Verstappen is well aware of that. "After testing it is always difficult to know where you are and we really didn’t know how it would be in qualifying but when you have a lap like that in Q3 and such a good feeling in the car you can be happy. We have to finish it off tomorrow but if I can have a good start I’m confident we can do a good job," Verstappen concluded.