Max Verstappen has only acquired three pole positions over his six years in Formula 1. After several near misses, the Dutchman was able to break his duck at the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix. While he would not be able to convert his pole into a win, Verstappen's following two poles would yield victories. While on paper qualifying might seem like an Achilles heel, Verstappen is no slouch on a Saturday as we will see below. Here are some of his top moments in qualifying.
Malaysia 2015
Having started 12th the previous race in Australia, Verstappen would improve six positions in just his second race, placing his car on the third row of the grid in Sepang. The Dutchman would go on to become the sport's youngest points scorer finishing the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix in seventh, dropping just one place from his qualifying position.
Australia 2016
Fast forward by almost a year and Verstappen once again proved why Red Bull were keen on expediting his arrival in Formula 1. With a new qualifying format where a driver was eliminated at one minute and 30-second intervals during every session, Verstappen outlasted all but four cars, placing fifth in the final qualifying standings ahead of the Red Bull pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat.
Mexico 2017
Mexico's high-downforce layout meant that Mercedes struggled with their cars in 2017. This left the door open for Ferrari and Red Bull to take advantage, which they duly did. Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen had an epic battle during the final stage of qualifying with Ferrari's superior horsepower giving the German the edge by a little less than one-tenth of a second. Despite losing out on pole, Verstappen would win on Sunday beating Valtteri Bottas by close to 20 seconds.
Hungary 2019
After several near misses, the Dutchman finally did it. The Hungaroring suited the Red Bull to a tee and the Dutchman was able to take full advantage, beating Bottas to pole by less than a tenth of a second. What made this performance even more impressive was the fact that he out qualified teammate Gasly by over a second.
Brazil 2019
Verstappen would achieve the second pole position of his career in Brazil in 2019. The Dutchman was easily the quickest driver in the first two sessions, topping all three sessions and thus taking the second pole position of his career despite a late push by Vettel. Unlike Hungary, he would convert this pole into a win.
Abu Dhabi 2020
Losing out to Hamilton in the first two parts of qualifying, Verstappen would eek every last inch of performance out of his Red Bull beating Mercedes' Bottas by less than three-hundredths of a second. This would be the only time a car not powered by Mercedes would take pole position for the entire season, proving how monumental Verstappen's efforts were.
Most read
