Max Verstappen’s Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying lap ‘one of his best ever’ says Red Bull’s Christian Horner

Max Verstappen took his first pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix after a stunning lap at the end of Qualifying; Verstappen beat Fernando Alonso by 0.084s in a thrilling climax to Q3; watch the Monaco GP live on Sky Sports F1 from 12:30pm on Sunday, lights out at 2pm

Christian Horner has labelled Max Verstappen’s pole position lap for the Monaco Grand Prix as one of his best ever in F1.

Verstappen was fifth going into his final lap in Q3 after Fernando Alonso stormed to the top of the timesheet.

The Dutchman was 0.204s behind the Aston Martin driver after Sector Two but went fastest by 0.084s with a stunning final sector.

“I think that is one of the best laps he’s ever driven in qualifying. When he arrived at the Swimming Pool he was 0.2s behind Fernando,” Horner told Sky Sports F1.

“Then all the time through that last sector, I think he hit the wall on both sides but carried the momentum and the speed. I could see him gaining the time, I knew it was going to be close and he just did it.

“My emotions are somewhere in the middle. I’m elated for Max with probably the best qualifying lap of his career, and then for Checo (Sergio Perez) unfortunately a mistake too early in Q1.”

Verstappen ‘won’t care’ about pole if he doesn’t win

Verstappen brushed the barriers on multiple occasions in the final sector to overcome his deficit after a poor run through Turn One, which left him playing catch-up for the rest of the lap.

Asked whether a Qualifying like Saturday sums up the magic of Monaco, Verstappen answered: “If it ends up in a great result I’m happy, otherwise I don’t care.”

He added: “The race should be okay. It’s just about having a clean start. And I mean, there’s always chaos involved in Monaco, but I think our race pace in the general behaviour of the car on the tyres is fine.

“But it was all about just putting that together over one lap, which I knew that was going to be a little bit harder for us here in Monaco, just with how our car is characterised. But still, to be first here, it’s great for the whole team.”

Horner: First 500m will dictate Monaco GP

Given the difficulty of overtaking at Monaco, it is widely expected that whoever starts from pole, will win the race.

However, only two of the last seven pole-sitters have gone on to win, but Horner still thinks Lap 1 will decide who is victorious.

“We know the importance of qualy here. That session was gloves off and it’s a track that doesn’t play to the strengths of the car and we needed Max to be on the top of his form to deliver that today,” he said.

“If we can get a good start I think we’ll be strong in the race but one lap, a slow-speed circuit like this the car doesn’t get a chance to use its strengths. That was down to Max today.

“There’s a great respect between Fernando and Max but they’re very similar characters. They’re cut from the same cloth and they’re both hard racers. They both want to win this race and I’m sure Fernando sees a chance and he knows how valuable that start is. That first 500m is what’s going to dictate this Grand Prix.”

Sky Sports F1‘s live Monaco GP schedule

Sunday May 28
7.15am: F3 Feature Race
8.45am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Monaco GP build-up
2pm: THE MONACO GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag Monaco GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
5.30pm: The 107th Indy 500

Watch the Monaco Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday with build-up from 12.30pm and lights out at 2pm. Get Sky Sports