Marko runs out of superlatives for 'incredible' Verstappen
Max Verstappen took pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in a very impressive way. Helmut Marko can't believe his eyes.

Max Verstappen surprised friend and foe by taking pole position in Saudi Arabia. The 27-year-old Dutchman squeezed out a fantastic lap in extremis and trumped Oscar Piastri. Helmut Marko runs out of superlatives for Verstappen's performance.

"I think McLaren bluffed a lot in FP3 and had very little fuel in the car," Marko told Sky DE . "We also re-set the car towards qualifying. That went exactly right, after which Max drove an incredible, unbelievable lap. He lost some time in the second sector, but the last corner was incredible again."

The cooler temperatures also played into Red Bull's hands. "Yes, definitely. The cooler it gets, the better it goes. But it's clear that the set-up was the right one. And as I said, McLaren's bluff this morning annoyed us all. But after Lando Norris hit the wall, we realised that it looked different again."

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