Damon Hill marvelled at a ‘thing of beauty’ from one driver in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen took pole position in the first Red Bull qualifying one-two of the season.
And Hill, speaking on Sky Sports F1’s post-qualifying show, was in awe of what one driver managed to do during the session.
McLaren driver Lando Norris took third place after what Hill’s colleague Anthony Davidson called a ‘brilliant’ performance in Q3.
Carlos Sainz, the winner last time out in Australia, was fourth on a weekend where Ferrari appear to have regressed.
Fernando Alonso took fifth place for Aston Martin to establish a striking advantage over Lance Stroll, who was left dejected after a shock Q1 exit.
Other stars of qualifying included Yuki Tsunoda, who reached the top-10 shoot-out for the third race in succession, Valtteri Bottas, who hauled his Sauber into Q2, and Esteban Ocon, who celebrated on the radio after snatching a Q2 spot for struggling Alpine.
Damon Hill loved Max Verstappen Japanese GP pole lap
Speaking on the team radio immediately after his pole lap, Verstappen suggested he could have extracted more performance from his RB20.
But Hill nonetheless felt that his 1:28.197 effort – a marginal improvement on his first Q3 run – was exceptional.
The 1996 F1 world champion was particularly impressed by the precision of his driving around the 3.6-mile circuit.
“It’s a thing of beauty to watch,” he said. “Even if that’s not his best lap, it’s just amazing what he can do with that car.
“The positioning of it is incredible. He’s so precise at such high speed.”
Sergio Perez nearly able to beat Verstappen at Suzuka
Sergio Perez came unexpectedly close to denying Verstappen pole position on the second and final runs in Q3.
The Mexican had missed out on a front row start at the first three events, qualifying fifth in Bahrain and third in Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Instead, Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Sainz had come closest to preventing a Verstappen clean sweep.
However, Perez got within seven hundredths of a second of the Dutchman with his final effort.
It’s his best qualifying performance since he took pole in Miami last year, and the closest anybody has got to Verstappen in Q3 all season.
And provided he can produce another solid performance in Sunday’s race, it could be a boost to his prospects of retaining his drive for next year.
Having come home second behind Verstappen at the first two races, Perez was only fifth in Australia following the world champion’s retirement, albeit hampered by a visor tear-off lodged in his floor.
He came in for some harsh criticism after that race, with the BBC’s Harry Benjamin declaring that he isn’t ‘the right man’ to partner Verstappen.
Former F1 driver Rene Arnoux accused Perez of regularly ‘disappearing’, while another racer argued that the former McLaren man doesn’t really deserve to be on the grid at all.
The 34-year-old will have to navigate one ‘disadvantage’ on Sunday, with Bernie Collins pointing out that Verstappen will have the team’s preference when it comes to strategy.
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