The Dutchman clocked a brilliant 1m22.109s on his first run to take a 10th pole position of the season, with Hamilton 0.371s off the pace to end up second with Lando Norris a surprise third place. Red Bull sent Perez out on track first in Q3, ahead of Verstappen, with the Mexican towing Verstappen down the long straight before bailing out of the way before Turn 9 and sacrificing his own lap. Verstappen made the most of the boost to slot into provisional pole, with Hamilton locking up at the hairpin and ending up nearly half a second adrift.
Mercedes sent their cars out first for the second run, but with Hamilton ahead of Bottas as they turned down the opportunity to try a tow. Hamilton improved, but he was behind in all three sectors and instead will start on the dirty side of the front row alongside his title rival in P2. However, like his team mate Bottas, Hamilton will start on the more durable medium tyre that should allow him to run deeper into the race before stopping. The Red Bulls, however, will start on the soft tyres, Verstappen moving to that rubber after he flat-spotted his medium tyres in Q2. Perez will start fourth, ahead of a very quick Carlos Sainz, who appeared to have made big gains after a difficult Friday, with Bottas down in sixth in his final Grand Prix for Mercedes ahead of a move to Alfa Romeo. Charles Leclerc was seventh, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda – who could have been higher, having sat third before having his lap deleted for track limits – with Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo completing the top 10.When asked if he is the better driver, Verstappen said: “I think you should be like that if you’re a Formula 1 driver. So I say yes, absolutely. “But I don’t need to hear that from anyone else. I don’t need that recognition. I find it much more important what I think myself, and what the people who are close to me think. “If I had been in his car, the season would have been decided long ago.” Hamilton is the far more experience of the two and with seven titles under his belt, is expected to better handle the increased pressure. Verstappen though said Hamilton is fearful of him, although the Red Bull driver added the Brit “will never admit” it. “At least I’m not afraid of him,” Verstappen said. “I think I’ll make him nervous if he sees me in his mirrors. He’s a different driver than me, less aggressive. He doesn’t know how to race like I do. “I can’t blame him for that either, because he was never able to learn that like I did from my father.&rdquo. “Max and Lewis only speak on the podium, very little. When I see Max with other drivers, I think they get on very well. But with Lewis, nothing. Lewis is in his own world.” Verstappen’s boss at Red Bull - Christian Horner - had also been vocal in both defending his driver while also criticising Hamilton and Mercedes. Speaking to The Times earlier in the week, Horner backed up Verstappen’s claim that he would have taken out the championship this year had he been in Hamilton’s car.“You can’t deny anything Lewis has achieved,” Horner said. “He’s one of the absolute greats and statistically the most successful in history. But you put Max and Lewis in that [Mercedes] car, and I have no doubt who would come out on top. Put Lewis in our car, and I also have no doubt who would come out on top.” Monday’s highly-anticipated finale is not a case of hypothetical scenarios though, with the intense rivalry culminating with an epic showdown to decide the championship.
Max verstappen🔥🔥
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