Red Bull’s Max Verstappen reveals he feels he got a bit of luck as he landed a stunning pole position for the 2025 British GP, with a low-downforce set-up that managed to hold on despite blustery winds at Silverstone.
The defending world champion pipped McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the very death of Q3 on Saturday to claim the front spot for the fourth time in the ongoing Formula 1 campaign.
It gives him a golden chance to claim his third win of the season and to keep his slim championship chances alive, but it also proves he and his team have still got what it takes to compete following a remarkable turnaround of fortunes.
Driver and team struggled for pace throughout Free Practice 1 (10th) and FP2 (fifth) on Friday, but managed to find around half-a-second in pace overnight to slingshot the Dutchman back into contention by FP3 (third).
He then made the most of that in qualifying with a gamble on a lower downforce set-up that worked wonders in Japan and Saudi Arabia, relying on the four-time world champion’s talent to make up the gap through the corners.
And that’s’ exactly what Verstappen did, although he reveals there was a degree of luck involved in his stunning pole position for the 2025 British GP as one gust of wind could have disaster through the likes of Copse, or Maggots and Becketts.
More from the Singapore GP
Catch up with Total Motorsport's latest Singapore GP coverage, including Max Verstappen's victory at Marina Bay, Ferrari's costly strategy gamble, the full race classification, and the updated 2026 Formula 1 Drivers' and Constructors' Championship standings.
“Pretty good. I mean, it was not easy out there to produce a consistent lap time just because of the wind,” Verstappen told media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “The gusts as well that you got out there.
“The car was moving around a lot even just on straights, so sometimes a bit unpredictable in places because of it. But luckily, that last lap came together quite nicely.
“Just had to commit a lot in the high speed with this low downforce that we have on the car, which we just tried to build up on. Luckily in Q3, that worked out.”
Where to Verstappen find the time to land 2025 British GP?
Verstappen managed to light up Sector 1 and 2 by going quicker than anyone else through those parts of the Silverstone track, including the very quick McLaren and Ferrari packages.
His pace was so good through those first two sectors that even when he failed to set a new personal best during the final part of the lap, he had already done enough to seal pole by 0.103 to his nearest challenger, Piastri.
“Everywhere except the last sector,” Verstappen added. “So, every single corner, a little bit.
“My first lap, I don’t know, it just felt really different to Q2. Just more oversteer, more understeer in places, and that then made the lap not amazing.
“But I never thought that I could find whatever it was, almost four tenths, I think. So yeah, it worked, so I’m happy with that.”
