Honda very happy with Verstappen: "Another brilliant lap from Max"

Ahead of qualifying for the Styrian GP things were already looking good for Honda. Not only Red Bull Racing showed they were frontrunners in the free practice sessions, but AlphaTauri also looked like they could compete for the top positions. It didn't turn out that great, but with four cars in the top ten the Japanese manufacturer can be very satisfied.

"An excellent performance from both our teams to get all four drivers into the top eight and another brilliant lap from Max to take his third pole of the season," said Toyoharu Tanabe in the press release from Honda. He particularly praised the gap of several tenths that Verstappen managed to open up to the competition. Something that is not easy on such a short lap.

Perez and co. should be able to come forward

Despite Mercedes being back among them, Tanabe is also content with his other drivers. "Checo qualified fifth and will start from fourth on the Soft tyre, having set his Q2 time on that compound and his race pace and good tyre management means we expect him to move up the order."

Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda also showed good race pace and so Tanabe expects the same from them. For Tsunoda, the Honda boss said it was especially important that he finished a trouble-free weekend. Tanabe came to this conclusion a little too early though, as it is now known that Tsunoda received a grid penalty for holding up Valtteri Bottas.