Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying session was a crucible of chaos and opportunity from which Max Verstappen emerged clutching a stunning pole position.
The Red Bull driver’s remarkable feat in Jeddah was not just a testament to his raw speed but also to the split-second ingenuity of his long-standing race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase.
As the sun dipped below the horizon and the floodlights lit up the Corniche Circuit, Verstappen and Lambiase turned a moment of disruption into a masterclass of strategy.
The McLaren Threat and a Red Flag Twist
Despite being McLaren’s closest challenger in free practice, Verstappen, had tempered expectations for Red Bull’s prospects. The path to pole was anything but straightforward, however.
“All of qualifying went well, of course,” the Dutchman explained after his mesmerizing display.
With just over eight minutes left in Q3, Norris lost control at Turn 4, his McLaren skidding into the barriers. The session ground to a halt under a red flag, throwing the session into disarray and forcing drivers and engineers to rethink their approach on the fly.
For Red Bull, this was the moment where Lambiase’s experience and intuition would shine.
Lambiase’s Two-Lap Masterplan
As the red flag halted proceedings, Verstappen found himself at a crossroads.
“With the crash, I think the only thing that it then meant was that, of course, you had to change your approach,” he admitted. “I wasn’t entirely sure what to do.”
While uncertainty lingered up and down the pitlane, Lambiase had a bold plan: fuel the RB21 for two consecutive laps, with a quick stop in between to swap tyres.
“At the end of the day, GP said, let’s fuel it for two laps. You do the first lap on that used out-lap tyre. Then you pit and you go on to the new,” Verstappen recounted.
The idea was audacious. Carrying extra fuel would make the car slightly slower on the first lap, but it would give Verstappen a chance to set a banker time before switching to fresh tyres for a final, all-out assault.
It was a gamble that required precision, trust, and nerves of steel.
Rhythm and Resilience
Verstappen embraced the challenge, leaning on the rhythm he’d built throughout qualifying.
“Around here, I think it’s always important to have quite a bit of rhythm, so naturally you do quite a lot of laps,” he explained.
“Also the tyres, luckily, they hold on to do that,” he added, noting the durability of the Pirelli compounds that allowed Red Bull to execute their strategy.
©RedBull
When the session resumed, Verstappen wasted no time. His first lap, on used tyres and with extra fuel, was strong enough to secure provisional pole – a remarkable feat given the circumstances.
Then, after a swift pit stop for fresh rubber, he returned to the track and unleashed a lap for the ages. His time eclipsed Piastri’s improved effort by a mere hundredth of a second, setting a new track record and clinching pole.
“Of course, naturally, you carry a bit more fuel, so you’re a bit slower in the first time. Yes, I think it was the right call,” Verstappen said, his voice tinged with satisfaction.
A Partnership Forged in Pressure
The red flag in Q3 could have derailed Red Bull’s hopes, but Lambiase’s quick thinking turned it into an opportunity.
“Of course, the red flag in Q3 is not ideal, but of course everyone has to deal with that,” Verstappen noted. “So we opted for that two-lap strategy. I’m happy that we did that, it just kept me on top of things and it felt good.”
Red Bull Racing race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
The strategy not only showcased Red Bull’s adaptability but also underscored the deep trust between Verstappen and Lambiase, a partnership that has been the backbone of the Dutchman’s dominance.
As he reflected on the session, Verstappen credited the approach for keeping him in tune with the car’s limits.
“At the end, that was definitely the right thing to do for me at least in terms of the feeling I had with the car and building up to the limit,” he said.
The two-lap plan allowed him to uphold his rhythm, while managing tyre wear, and ultimately delivering a lap that stunned the McLaren camp and secured a pole few had expected.
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