Christijan Albers thinks one thing is ‘not normal’ about Red Bull star Max Verstappen after watching his fellow Dutch driver throughout the F1 Miami Grand Prix weekend.
Formula 1 returned to Florida for the third Miami GP last week with the first meeting to also feature a Sprint. But while Verstappen took pole position for both events and won the Sprint last Saturday, he did not do the double as McLaren ace Lando Norris won his first Grand Prix.
Norris threatened to rival Verstappen for pole during Sprint Qualifying but could not get the C4 soft tyres to work. No driver would seriously threaten Verstappen for pole for the Miami GP, either. But a safety car intervention gave Norris a cheap pit stop and the lead of the race.
Christijan Albers thinks Max Verstappen’s development at Red Bull is ‘not normal’
Verstappen ultimately had to settle for second place to Norris as the Red Bull racer could not keep up with the McLaren pilot. They took the chequered flag 7.612 seconds apart as Norris won the Miami GP as his maiden victory. The 24-year-old won on his 110th Grand Prix entry.
The Miami GP was also the first race this season in which Verstappen has finished in second place. Red Bull saw the 26-year-old win the Bahrain GP, Saudi Arabian GP, Japanese GP and Chinese GP, where he did the double with the Sprint, but he retired from the Australian GP.
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Red Bull have also watched Verstappen take pole position in all but one qualifying session in 2024. Norris denied his friend a P1 start in the Sprint at the Chinese GP during a rain-soaked SQ3. But Albers now simply expects Verstappen to top qualifying and take the pole position.
Verstappen has greatly impressed Albers, with his compatriot believing the 38-time F1 pole-sitter is now the complete package. The ex-Minardi and Spyker star also finds Verstappen’s development since he replaced Daniil Kvyat at Red Bull from the 2016 Spanish GP abnormal.
“I think with Max, I don’t have orange glasses or [an] orange hat on, but you just clearly see how he is growing with everything,” Albers told De Telegraaf.
“He has grown from the beginning he got to Red Bull. His qualifications have gotten better and better, that’s not normal. We no longer know any better that he can just drive for pole. You can see he has it all together.”
Max Verstappen has the fifth-most pole position in Formula 1’s history
Verstappen took his first pole position in Formula 1 at the 2019 Hungarian GP but still only sat on three by the start of the 2021 season. Yet the Dutchman had 13 poles by the end of his first title-winning campaign. He has also claimed 25 of the last 51 and 19 of the past 28.
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The three-time reigning champion now ranks fifth in Formula 1’s all-time standings for pole positions yet. Only Lewis Hamilton (104), Michael Schumacher (68), Ayrton Senna (65) and Sebastian Vettel (57) have achieved more pole positions in Formula 1 than Verstappen has.
Verstappen has even earned pole position in 19.9% of his 191 Grand Prix entries, which is a better hit-rate than Vettel’s 19% and only just shy of Schumacher’s 22%. Hamilton has a hit-rate of 30.7% from 338 entries and Senna secured pole position in 40.3% of his 162 entries.
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