Max Verstappen has secured pole position for the final race of the 2023 Formula 1 season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, putting him in prime position to potentially capture his 19th race win of the year on Sunday. The Dutch racer edged out Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for the top spot on the starting grid for the Yas Marina Circuit. Leclerc will start beside Verstappen on the front row.

Verstappen’s early benchmark time in the final stage of qualifying initially seemed under threat from McLaren’s Lando Norris in the waning minutes. However, Norris ultimately made a mistake on his last push lap, unable to improve on his previous time. But that wasn’t the only mistake made, and Helmut Marko would agree.

What happened with Helmut Marko and Christian Horner?

It turns out to be a quirky wager Helmut Marko and Christian Horner had going based on whether Verstappen ends up qualifying on the front row or not. The team-radio interaction went like this:

“Well done… you just made me win 500 euros from Helmut,” said Horner, which, with all honesty, seems like an impossible task, because to win over Marko’s predictions is as easy as finding a needle in a haystack. Regardless, from a sporting perspective, it seemed like Verstappen could not have had the front row or pole position start until qualifying.

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With multiple red flags on Friday & the Dutchman missing out on FP1, there was a lot of uncertainty with Red Bull’s performance. Verstappen also didn’t look supreme, as he has been this year, with the all-conquering RB19. Still, when it mattered, the Red Bull champ kept everyone at bay to take pole under lights at Yas Marina, and also made Horner $550 (€ 500) richer!

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Despite this success, Verstappen remains uncertain about his chances in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix chances

Verstappen is set to start the race alongside Charles Leclerc, marking their second consecutive front-row start together. The Dutchman, aiming for his 19th win in 22 races this season, looks forward to his fourth consecutive victory from pole position in Abu Dhabi. But when questioned about his chances in the main race, the reigning champ had “no clue.”

“I have no clue how good we are going to be in the race,” Verstappen candidly shared post-qualifying. This comes after a challenging time in practice at Yas Marina, where he faced difficulties but managed to secure pole position on his first attempt in Q3. This turnaround was partly due to Red Bull’s strategic late set-up change just before the session.

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Reflecting on the team’s performance, Verstappen noted, “Normally we are always quite decent, but around here, with the tires, you can have little slides and it can cost you a lot of lap time.” He acknowledged the struggle they faced in practice but observed a significant improvement in the qualifying round. “The whole weekend has been a struggle, so we definitely improved the car for qualifying, it all seemed a bit more together and we could definitely push more,” he concluded.