Verstappen hails Red Bull's ‘miracle' comeback to claim pole at Qatar Grand Prix

In a stellar display of adaptability and teamwork, Max Verstappen has applauded the efforts of Red Bull Racing after surging from a disappointing eighth place in the sprint to a magnificent pole position in Sunday's Grand Prix in Qatar.

The reigning four-time world champion edged out George Russell by a razor-thin margin of 0.055 seconds during qualifying. This remarkable achievement marks Verstappen's comeback to the front row, his first pole since his victory at the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

Reflecting on the dramatic improvement, Verstappen acknowledged the collective effort, stating, "I mean, it couldn't have been worse [than the sprint race]. So we just looked at it. And I mean, it's not all super clear, but we're like, well, we have to go and try this direction. We put it on the car and it worked."

The Dutch driver gave credit to his team, including the experts at Red Bull's headquarters in Milton Keynes, for their relentless analysis and strategic changes that contributed to the car's dramatic enhancement. The comprehensive approach included both on-track decisions and parallel simulations, which eventually led to what Verstappen described as a "miracle" occurrence.

In the high-speed demanding corners of the Lusail circuit, the RB1X felt significantly more "connected," according to Verstappen. Such tuning allowed him to capitalize on every slight improvement, culminating in significant overall gains.

"I felt confident in the car, so I was pushing it. And honestly, the whole lap was a hundredth here and then two-hundredths and then the last corner a little bit," Verstappen elaborated. "It was not a lot compared to the previous lap, but it just everywhere a little bit better." He attributed some of his advantage to running less fuel during a single stint, which notably contributes to performance efficiency.

Thanks to the strategic improvements and Verstappen's mastery of the circuit, he secured pole position, once again underscoring the prowess of the Red Bull team and Verstappen's commendable driving skills.

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