Verstappen will line up on pole position for the sixth consecutive race as he continues his perfect Saturday run this season.
Top spot in China saw him equal Hakkinen’s record of five poles from the opening five races of his victorious 1999 championship campaign.
Driving for McLaren at the time, Hakkinen took Saturday honours in Australia, Brazil, San Marino, Monaco, and Spain before Michael Schumacher ended his run at the Canadian Grand Prix.
For Verstappen, the result also marked Red Bull Racing’s 100th Formula 1 pole—the first coming in the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix courtesy of Sebastian Vettel.
“Before I jumped in the car, Christian [Horner] told me ‘if you got pole today [it] could be number 100 for the team’,” the Dutchman said.
“That’s an incredible achievement for the whole team. Of course, also a big contribution from Seb back in the day.
“But yeah, fantastic also to have the one-two in qualifying and show that the car’s again working really well.
“From my side, it’s been a really good start to the year,” he added.
“I feel probably very confident in qualifying, even compared to last year.
“Just a shame that we retired in Melbourne, otherwise I think we could have had already a very strong lead.”
Following the Sprint in China, Verstappen holds a 15-point advantage over team-mate Sergio Perez at the top of the drivers’ championship.
With six consecutive pole positions, dating back to last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Verstappen is two shy of equalling Ayrton Senna’s record of eight poles in a row set in 1988/89.
The Dutchman’s current run is his best in F1, his previous record being five in a row from Monaco to Silverstone last year.
Discussion about this post