Outside Line: Suzuka pole is why a $1-billion is a bargain for Max Verstappen!

Verstappen’s lap came at the dying end of an intriguing qualifying session at Suzuka, with McLaren showing the pace and looking set to lock out the front row. Incredible Max added a most unexpected twist to the script. And it had me whooping.

I was watching qualifying live on F1TV — normally, I’m pretty poker-faced and cool. Very few things make me emotional, even fewer make me whoop. But when Max crossed the line and his name popped up at the top of the timing sheets, I jumped. I punched the air in amazement.

I had just witnessed greatness again from Verstappen — a giant of a racing driver we are privileged to watch perform in this golden era of Formula 1. This time he powered to a hugely unexpected 41st pole position, with what I think was his greatest of many astounding Qualifying laps.

Since he arrived in the top flight, Max has been breaking F1 records and lifting the benchmark to where it now stands: so high that even two supremely talented young drivers, McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, in what is arguably the best car on the grid, cannot contain him.

Verstappen is possibly in the fourth-best car in the pecking order of Formula 1 at this stage of the season. McLaren first, then Mercedes, then Ferrari and then Max in the Red Bull. And at Suzuka? It's the most daunting track on the calendar — the most dangerous and probably the most challenging when driving on the edge.

It’s where Formula 1 drivers tend to show their true mettle. None more so than Verstappen, who is clearly wrenching every last drop of performance out of the RB21 that any human can manage.

The car is visibly getting worse before our eyes. The evolution from the RB20 has not taken the car to any greater heights. Yet when it matters — when the chips are down like they were in Suzuka qualifying today — Verstappen digs deep, engages the genius racer within him, and delivers.

He’s now set himself up for a remarkable fourth win in a row in Japan. I have run out of accolades to throw at this incredible Dutchman.

Witness this moment in the history of Formula 1 with admiration. Embrace it. Savour it. Because we are watching the greatest driver this sport has ever seen — in action. And he only gets better, dragging a whole generation of super-talents with him as he raises the bar relentlessly.

In over half a century of following this sport, I have never witnessed — nor read about — a driver as good as Max Verstappen. I saw Senna. He was the greatest of his era. And I’m sure that if Senna were here now, racing at age 27 in today’s world — with simulators, safety advancements, and all the tools available to drivers — he would be at Verstappen’s level.

I have no doubt that the greats of the past — from Fangio through to Stewart, to Lauda and beyond — if they were 27 today and in these cars, maybe they would be as good as Max Verstappen. Or maybe chasing him close.

We can say the same of Schumacher. He raised the benchmark in all aspects: from the dark arts of racing to outright speed to galvanising teams into F1 title-winning machines. He too would be phenomenal in this era, with all the supreme safety that allows today's elite drivers to push the envelope as they do.

Verstappen is easily among those greats. And I have no doubt that if Max had raced in Senna’s time, or Schumacher’s, or Stewart's, or Fangio's he would have been right up there with them fighting for GP victories and F1 titles. And at times — like today — he would’ve put in a stonking lap that even the greats, from Ayrton to Michael, would look at and say: Wow.

I say this because the way Max flung that #1 Red Bull around grand old Suzuka today, was old school style, with pole position the only acceptable target for him, his personal safety not at all on his radar. 'Do or die' in the real sense of the term.

We’re in the era of Verstappen. The current king of Formula 1. He’s what we fondly and respectfully call in racing: a Monster! And he gets better and better every weekend too!

In closing, if Lawrence Stroll does offer Max a billion-dollar deal to join Aston Martin, it will be money well spent, even a bargain I would say.