The three-time champion signed off his season’s qualifying efforts with a 12th pole, having pipped Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc by 0.139 seconds despite failing to improve with his final Q3 attack.
But Verstappen had called out the behaviour of the dominant RB19 throughout practice, even leading Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko to wager €500 that his driver would not hit the front-row.
