Verstappen has Hamilton in his sights for Russian GP; Watch live, only on Sky Sports F1, on Sunday at 12.10pm
Saturday 26 September 2020 17:03, UK
Max Verstappen will start on the front row for the first time since the F1 season-openers in Sunday's Russian GP after nailing one of his "best laps ever" to beat Valtteri Bottas and split heavy favourites Mercedes.
The Red Bull star expected to be fighting in the midfield rather than the Mercedes this weekend, but while Lewis Hamilton took pole in a dramatic session by more than half a second, Verstappen out-paced Bottas by a tenth with a superb final lap in Q3 to secure second place.
Verstappen's only other front-row starts this season came in the Austria back-to-back in July - one after being bumped up the grid thanks to a post-qualy penalty for Hamilton and the other following a drenched Styrian GP shootout.
The Dutchman's Sochi exploits came in the dry and were eye-catching - a whopping 1.1s faster than Alex Albon, who was 10th in the other Red Bull.
"Very unexpected," admitted Verstappen to Sky F1. "I don't say it very often but it was one of my best laps ever in qualifying. It felt really good."
In truth, it was the first time Verstappen had got close to the Mercedes all weekend.
"I was struggling a bit in Q1 and Q2 with the balance of the car so we were trying to stabilise everything," he said. "I think in Q3, especially the second run, we managed to do that to a certain extent and the lap was good.
"Very happy to be on the front row."
With Hamilton forced onto the soft tyre for the start to the race following a Sebastian Vettel crash and frantic end to Q2, Verstappen, along with Bottas just behind, will line up on the grid on the more durable and race-friendly mediums.
Verstappen and Red Bull are often more competitive on a Sunday than Saturday, although he's still wary:
"I'm starting on the dirty side and on this track that's quite a big difference - there's not been a lot of running on this track. On other tracks it doesn't make a big difference.
"And I'm on a harder compound so for sure the launch will be a bit tricky.
"But you never know, with the tow into Turn Two, I think it's going to be an interesting first lap."
