‘Driving genius’ Max Verstappen overcomes Red Bull scepticism to set new F1 record

Clocking the fastest lap in Formula 1 history, Helmut Marko says that was just the “driving genius” that is Max Verstappen, who will start the Italian Grand Prix from pole position.

Verstappen bagged his 45th pole position as a Red Bull driver on Saturday, surpassing Sebastian Vettel in a new team record.

The fastest lap in F1 history at an average speed of 264.682km/h

The Dutchman, who trailed in the practice sessions, came to the fore in Q3 with a 1:18.792 to beat Lando Norris by 0.077s.

“Yes guys, yes! That is unbelievable. Really, really good job and it worked out. Relax, it’s all good,” Verstappen shouted to Red Bull as his pole position was confirmed.

Formula 1 has touted it as the fastest lap in the sport’s history with an average speed of 264.682km/h or 164.466mph.

Bolting on a low downforce wing for qualifying, Verstappen revealed “some people” at Red Bull wanted to change the car’s setup, but he said no, even in the face of their scepticism.

“Before qualifying, some people within the team wanted to try something else with the setup, but I said: ‘No, we shouldn’t do that’,” the reigning World Champion explained.

“When I walked back to my room, I could still see some faces and a few people doubting that setup direction.

“But I just felt, ‘this is what we need to do,’ and luckily it worked out.”

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According to De Telegraaf, technical director Pierre Wache was amongst those who wanted Verstappen to run a slightly bigger rear wing as he felt the low downforce setup would cost him time in quali.

Verstappen turned out to be right, with Marko applauding the 27-year-old’s “genius”.

“Max gives his engineer very precise instructions on where and how hundredths and thousandths of a second are still to be achieved. He then implements it flawlessly,” he told Sky Deutschland.

“In the end, only a driving genius like him can do that.”

A genius who Marko believes can win the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday by controlling the pace at the front.

“When Max is at the front, he can manage his lap times and tyre management,” said the 82-year-old. “The long run on Friday was great. Therefore, I am optimistic that this statistic will not come into play.

“It was the best Friday we’ve had. I honestly can’t remember having such a good Friday in a long time. We slightly changed our practice philosophy, our overall approach.

“We’ve got a new floor on the car, and Max felt comfortable right from the start. Step by step, we fine-tuned the car. We were always close, but on Friday we were mainly losing time in sector 1.

“We’ve fixed that, and we also focused on setting up the car for the race. We went for a balance with relatively low downforce for the race — since our top speed wasn’t outstanding — but still enough downforce to fight for pole position.

“And Max executed that brilliantly. In the last sector, he delivered again and found another tenth — which, nowadays, is a huge advantage.”

The Austrian credits new Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies for the change in Red Bull’s approach to Friday practices, with a deeper technical understanding at the forefront.

“A big one. That approach comes directly from him,” Marko said. “On a technical level, the communication has improved significantly, and that’s having a positive impact on the whole team.

“You can see it, for example, with Yuki [Tsunoda] finishing P10. I honestly can’t even remember the last time he reached Q3. You can clearly feel the upward trend.”

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