Christian Horner explained how Red Bull pondering over possible “McLaren sandbagging” turned to elation when Max Verstappen claimed Saudi Arabian Grand Prix pole.

And after Verstappen delivered “that last ounce of performance” to snatch P1 on the grid, the reigning World Champion will be tasked with repeating those heroics as Red Bull team boss Horner predicted a “hell of a fight” to come against McLaren.

Max Verstappen on Saudi GP pole: P1 on its way?

Eight-tenths off McLaren’s pace at the end of FP3, Verstappen was able to eliminate the deficit and then some to take pole in Jeddah, pipping McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to P1 on the grid by just a hundredth of a second, after Lando Norris had put the sister McLaren in the wall earlier in Q3.

Verstappen was a consistent threat at the top of the timesheets throughout qualifying, and with each passing segment, Red Bull’s caution over McLaren potentially hiding pace gave way to delight as Verstappen scored his and the team’s second pole position in F1 2025.

“Coming into that qualy off FP3, it was all about who was going to be third,” Horner told Sky F1. “And suddenly, Q1, Max went quickest, and you think, ‘hang on, are McLaren sandbagging here?’

“And then Q2, we were right there again. And then the unfortunate accident for Lando in Q3, there were only four cars with two new sets [of tyres], which were the two McLarens, George [Russell] and Max.

“Thankfully, Lando was okay, but it left it right on the cusp of doing two times, for which there was 25 seconds of margin, or do you just hang in there and do one?

“We elected to do the two times, which puts you under pressure because if there’s any issue at all, you’ve lost that margin. What was super impressive for me was that, because you take the pit stop, you’ve got to carry the fuel. So he had six or seven kilograms more fuel on that first lap, which he went quickest, put the pressure then on the other guys.

“And then again, his last lap was outstanding. To get that pole, our second in the last three races, is really rewarding. A phenomenal performance by Max and the team, and good to have Yuki [Tsunoda] up there in Q3 as well.”

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Two rounds ago at Suzuka, Verstappen was successfully able to hold off the McLarens to turn pole into victory.

But in Jeddah, Horner is expecting a “hell of a fight” from Piastri who lines his McLaren up alongside Verstappen on the front row.

“It does (reward being on pole position), because you have the fresh air,” Horner added. “So, if you can convert the pole, you’ve got that benefit of running in the clean air and not being in the turbulence of a following car.

“But what we’ve seen this weekend, the McLaren is very, very quick, particularly in race trim. So I think we’re going to have a hell of a fight on our hands to try to keep Oscar behind us. But we’re starting in the best possible position, so great to be going into it on pole.

“Honestly, I did not believe that was possible going into that session. But it just shows, you never give up. We’ve got a great team, you keep fighting. You keep chasing the performance and then Max, he’ll go and deliver you that last ounce of performance.”

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