Red Bull team boss Christian Horner reflects on a successful Saturday at Suzuka. After two challenging race weekends in Melbourne and Shanghai, there was finally something to celebrate for the Austrian racing team on the Japanese asphalt. In the final stages of the qualification, Max Verstappen secured pole position with a sensational lap. His new teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, was less fortunate, although according to Horner, the Japanese driver showed promising signs.
It was a close call, with McLaren nearly occupying the front row again. Towards the end of the qualification, Lando Norris was leading the time charts, closely followed by teammate Oscar Piastri. However, from Max Verstappen’s final sector times, it became clear that the Dutchman could still vie for the top starting spots. In the end, he improved Norris’s time by a mere 0.012 seconds. The lap is considered one of Max’s finest, especially since the RB21 is not as fast as the MCL39.
‘Tsunoda was playing catch-up’
“An incredible lap from Max to take pole position for the fourth time in a row here in Suzuka,” Christian Horner responded afterwards. “We turned the car upside down this weekend,” he said, referring to the many adjustments the team had to make. “Max and the team worked extremely hard to set up the car as well as possible. They collectively did a fantastic job – it was arguably one of his best qualifying laps ever, topped off with a new lap record; truly excellent.””Verstappen and Lando Norris became the first drivers ever to clock under 1:27 at Suzuka, thereby surpassing the unofficial lap record set by Sebastian Vettel in 2019. “It was a well-deserved, albeit somewhat unexpected pole,” concluded Horner. Yuki Tsunoda, who made his debut for Red Bull this weekend, was less fortunate. After several strong training sessions, the Japanese driver crashed out in Q2. He eventually qualified fifteenth, although he moved up one place due to Carlos Sainz Jr‘s grid penalty.
“It was a shame that Tsunoda was eliminated in Q2, as he performed very well in the first qualifying session,” Horner explained. “He was within a tenth of Max Verstappen’s time, but in Q2 he had a ‘moment’ in the second turn. After that, you’re just playing catch-up in terms of lap time,” said the team boss.”
