F1 News
Verstappen equals Fangio: 'One of the best qualifying laps ever'
- Ludo van Denderen
Only Max Verstappen managed to record a time under 1.29 in the final and all-decisive part of qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. In doing so, he was more than half a second faster than the runner-up, the surprisingly strong Oscar Piastri. Karun Chandhok, who once competed in Formula 1 races himself, had seen pure greatness as a Sky Sports pundit.
As the drivers headed towards the media, Chandhok was still particularly impressed by Max Verstappen's performance. He stammeringly said: "I'm still breathless watching that. I think that was one of the great qualifying laps in F1 history. "
On par with Fangio
The Indian was joined by his colleague Anthony Davidson, who also competed in Formula 1. "If you don't think you can improve on perfection, just look at that second lap for Max Verstappen," he told Sky Sports. Chandhok replied: "There's not much left on the table. The detail with which he drove - pinching little bits on the entry into Spoon Curve, 130R not using all the width. He thought about every metre and for me that's a driver who's ahead of the car. Christian was saying that's one of the special laps and he's right. If they didn't have Max in the car, they would be second on the grid."
Verstappen was the first driver to take to the track in Q3. In it, he started with a 1.29.012. In hindsight, that time would have been enough for pole. So on his second attempt, the Dutchman went even faster. Verstappen thus took pole for the 29th time in his career. This puts him on a par with five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio.