Verstappen: Red Bull 'on rails' in dominant pole run

Max Verstappen has praised Red Bull for delivering a car "on rails" after securing pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The F1 championship leader set a time of 1:12.272 to finish four-tenths faster than Carlos Sainz, who ended second for Ferrari.

Verstappen's main threat for a third World Championship, teammate Sergio Perez, failed to reach Q3 after an error at Turn 5 having struggled with his RB19 throughout the session.

But Verstappen had no such issues and said: "The car was really good.

"Qualifying started out a bit tricky with the weather but once it started to dry out, the car was on rails.

"It was really enjoyable to drive."

Verstappen is aiming for his fifth win of the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where he secured his first victory in F1 in 2016.

"I love coming to Barcelona in general, I love the track and the fans," he added.

"I have a lot of great memories here, hopefully, we can add another one."