Last weekend’s Saudi Arabian GP saw Lando Norris lose his grip on the drivers’ championship lead for the first time this season. And it all started after his horrific crash during the top-10 shootout in qualifying on Saturday. Naturally, his title rival, Max Verstappen was there to pounce on this gifted opportunity.
A moment of snap oversteer threw the #4 driver’s MCL39 into the barriers — bringing out a red flag and relegating him to P10 for the Grand Prix on Sunday. However, this also put other drivers in a conundrum as they essentially lost an entire run owing to the timing of the red flag in Q3.
Red Bull saw this as the opportunity to rectify their Bahrain GP woes and put Verstappen on an audacious two-run plan with just over eight minutes left on the clock after the qualifying session restarted at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
In the end, however, it all worked out as the four-time world champion slotted his RB21 into pole position ahead of the McLaren of Oscar Piastri by a mere 0.01 seconds. But as it turns out, not only does the Dutchman’s stellar lap deserve the credit but also his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda for ensuring that Verstappen clocked in the fastest lap of the session.
Veteran F1 journalist, Roberto Chinchero pointed out how the young Japanese racing ace gave the 27-year-old a perfect tow on the main straight, right after finishing his own lap. Tsunoda timed this slipstream perfectly, allowing Verstappen some crucial tenths of a second in the first sector.
La vuelta de pole de @Max33Verstappen en el Gran Premio de Arabia Saudita.#Verstappen #SaudiArabianGPpic.twitter.com/Y9nCBXhAqO
— Carburando (@CarburandoTV) April 22, 2025
“The plan of the team to ask Yuki to wait [for] Max exactly in that moment that was a crucial help because he gained an advantage of one tenth on Piastri and that was key for pole position,” he explained to Autosport.
This made all the difference at the end of Verstappen‘s final flying lap as he was able to go purple only in the first sector (owing to the tow). In fact, this fastest first sector helped the reigning champion sneak pole position away from Piastri, despite the Aussie trying his level best to cover up the lost time in the remaining two sectors.
Certainly, Verstappen would’ve thanked Tsunoda as his timely slipstream essentially confirmed his pole.
Things didn’t go much to plan for Tsunoda on his own lap, though. Despite making it into Q3 for the second successive race weekend, the #22 driver could only manage a fourth-row starting slot in eighth position.
In the media pen afterward, he lamented the fact that he was not able to stitch together a better lap to be closer to his teammate at the front of the field. However, Red Bull wouldn’t have minded this too much given his heroics in helping Verstappen secure a crucial pole position.
If the Japanese driver can continue this run of form in assisting the Dutchman’s title defense besides scoring points regularly, he could very well retain his seat for the long term at Milton Keynes.
