Verstappen's masterclass exhibits there's more to it than the machine

The Flying Dutchman

- Sandip Sikdar

NEW DELHI: Coming into Suzuka, the chatter in the F1 paddock was all about Yuki Tsunoda replacing Liam Lawson at Red Bull. Being promoted to a top team that too at his home Grand Prix, the Japanese driver was followed by fans and hounded by the media as he stepped into the car that has won the last four drivers' world titles.

In the three practice sessions too, the cameras followed Tsunoda, and the commentators discussed the switch apart from the obvious talk on McLaren, the fastest team of 2025. In qualifying, while Tsunoda disappointed by not even making Q3, the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri expectedly locked out the front row.

Until a certain Max Verstappen delivered a blistering lap out of the blue in the dying seconds to seize a sensational and unexpected pole—his first since Austria in June 2024. Watching in the media pen, the 1:26.983-lap drew a big smile from two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. "Only he can do it," he said.