Max Verstappen left it until the last lap of the final Formula One qualifying session of the season to break the Mercedes stranglehold on pole position and put his Red Bull in the number one slot for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“He’s threaded it together there, an amazing lap at the end,” Red Bull boss Christian Horner told Sky Sports F1.
“I’m just looking at the split times and he’s not the fastest. He’s just made it happen himself.”
The 23-year-old Dutchman beat provisional pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas by just 0.025 seconds, denying Mercedes their 14th front-row lockout from 17 races.
Champion Lewis Hamilton, back in his Mercedes after missing last weekend’s Sakhir Gr…
Keep on reading: Verstappen springs the unexpected with late pole lap in Abu Dhabi