Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has described Max Verstappen as an "absolute phenomenon" after being stunned by the Dutchman's pole lap at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The four-time F1 champion secured his first pole of the season at the Suzuka circuit following a remarkable final lap which saw him defeat Lando Norris by a slender 0.012s.
In doing so, Verstappen set a new lap record, further etching his name into the history books.
Verstappen's 1:26.983s has put the 27-year-old in the perfect position to potentially claim a fourth consecutive victory in Japan, much to Marko's disbelief.
"I am equally amazed and surprised," Marko told Sky DE.
"So there are two factors: his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, made quite a few changes, and then the Verstappen factor came in. He set a lap that we didn't think possible."
Verstappen securing pole caught the entire paddock by surprise, following three difficult practice sessions for Red Bull.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit experimented with the RB21, which saw Verstappen and new team-mate Yuki Tsunoda run different rear wing setups. Tsunoda was eliminated in Q2.
Marko explained the changes made to the RB21 after qualifying and recognised Verstappen's brilliant performance.
"It's more about springing the wings, which basically gave us more downforce," explained Marko.
"He's [Verstappen] an absolute phenomenon. And when needed, he packs it together perfectly.
"Yuki Tsunoda would also have had the speed, but he made two mistakes on his lap.
"But after all the difficulties we had on Saturday morning, we could never have imagined this."
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