Max Verstappen pole a ‘great statement’ for Red Bull, a ‘reality check’ for F1 2024 rivals

Max Verstappen fist in celebration

Max Verstappen has broken his pole position drought in stunning fashion for the Austrian Grand Prix. While the rest of the field is extremely tight, Verstappen managed to secure a gap of 0.404s over second-place Lando Norris.

Verstappen understandably sees this masterclass as a “great statement” about the performance of his RB20 — but his competition on the Austrian Grand Prix field see things a little differently. For them, the Dutch driver’s pace is a “reality check.”

Verstappen’s lap was a ‘shock’ and ‘reality check’

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri perhaps said it best when he referred to Max Verstappen’s pace as a ‘reality check’ while speaking after qualifying. He admitted that he was “a little bit” shocked by the RB20 racer’s pace.

“His lap in Q2 was I think a bit of a reality check for everyone, and obviously he repeated it in Q3,” Piastri said to media including PlanetF1.com.

“The gap seems to be a little bit bigger in that session for whatever reason, and clearly they’re still the force to beat.”

Piastri wasn’t the only driver to comment on Verstappen’s speed. In speaking about the changes Mercedes made to his car between the sprint race and qualifying, Lewis Hamilton said his machinery felt better — but still behind.

“I mean, we’re down a lot in the high speed compared to Max,” he said.

“It’s insane how much faster they are in high speed.”

More reactions from the Austrian Grand Prix

 Austrian GP: Max Verstappen storms to pole position after closest Q1 in F1 history

 Oscar Piastri hits out at ’embarrassing’ track limits call after Austrian GP lap deletion

Max Verstappen in “a league of his own”

The two drivers who spoke the most in depth about Verstappen’s pace were the drivers joining him in the top three starting positions.

“I think [second] was as much as we could do today,” Lando Norris said.

“Max was, like you said, in a league of his own, clearly much quicker than what we had.

“When you look at the pace today, it’s clear that we’re going to have to give it a lot. We’re going to need something extra to go our way in order to beat the pace of Max and the Red Bulls.

“I’ll try; I’ll do a better job than I did tis morning, that’s for sure.”

Mercedes’ George Russell, too, pointed out Verstappen’s speed after noting that his team’s upgrades have brought him closer to being able to battle with Ferrari.

“I think we’re still a little bit behind McLaren, and Max and Red Bull were flying today,” Russell said. “But it’s definitely going in the right direction for us.”

A “great statement,” per Verstappen

Verstappen hasn’t secured a pole position since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix back in mid-May, making this pole a special one.

While it’s true that anything can happen on race day, it would be surprising if Verstappen failed to demonstrate his impressive pace on Sunday.

As team boss Christian Horner told Sky after qualifying, “Each lap for [Verstappen] would have been good enough for pole.”

Read next: F1 starting grid: What is the grid order for the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix?