Verstappen: The team told me just to keep pushing

The weather was looming for quite a while as it rushed over to almost blacken the track, before unloading a deluge, making the track undrivable just as the ten drivers completed a second run. Some were caught out, including Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

But the Dutchman in the #1 car, who does not make mistakes these days, said in Parc Ferme: "We didn’t know when the rain would hit in qualifying, we thought it would hit. This is of course insane weather.

"Charles and I were just discussing, our laps felt terrible, but I don’t know, I think the wind started to change and started to be very strong and we lost a lot of lap time because of it. It was all quite hectic in the last lap.

"It seems that it’s all very close. You could see that already in qualifying. I expect the same also in the race. Around here there’s also quite a lot of deg from the tyres. So it’s all about that management. Last year we didn’t get that right but I think we are a bit better this year," reckoned Verstappen, after claiming his 31st top spot start for a Grand Prix and the 11th of this campaign

Later in the RBR team report, Max added: "Although it was quite tough with the weather, it was great to end up on pole. In Q1 and Q2, the gaps were small in between cars and we ended up using quite a few of our tyre sets.

"When we lined up to go out for Q3, you could see the sky was black. As we went out, the first sector was alright but the rain started coming in; the wind picked up and changed direction in the middle section which made it difficult to drive but the Team told me just to keep pushing.

"I have never experienced something that has had such a big influence on car balance, but ultimately it was still a great result and sets us up well for Sunday. For the Sprint race tomorrow, we will try and do the best we can as I think it will be close in the Sprint Shootout," added Verstappen, clearly intent on win number 17 of the 2023 F1 season!

In what is becoming an increasingly common tale of woe, Perez was again on the wrong side of 'luck' (if it can be called that) only managing P9 in today's pole-claiming and 18-time GP-winning RB19. A one-two was Red Bull's to get, but Perez dropped the ball yet again and knew it.

The Mexican veteran has a chance to redeem himself in the Sprint Race on Saturday before the hard graft he faces to move forward in Sunday's GP amid a very, very tight field chasing Verstappen.

Perez's post-Qualy report had a familiar ring to it: "It was very unfortunate today, I think we had the pace to qualify in the first two rows at least. We were on for P3, P2 maybe, my lap was very close to Max’s until the last corner but we had Piastri spin at the end of the lap and I had to back off.

"I also think we went out a little too late, the rain picked us up and the track temperate was cooling quickly. There are so many ifs but it is just the start of the weekend and there is still a long way to go, the positive is we seem to have very strong pace. I am looking forward to Saturday now to see what we can do on Sprint day, I think we have some good opportunities to race from here," added Perez.

Red Bull F1 boss Horner reported: “A qualifying dominated by ominous weather and halted due to the treacherous rain it delivered. Ultimately, Max performed well through the session and in the varying conditions. He had one lap to deliver as we watched the clouds rolling in over the horizon, securing pole before the session was abruptly brought to a close."

Horner backed his beleaguered Mexican driver: "Checo was unlucky in his lap, falling victim to the yellow flag brought on by the Piastri incident. Unfortunately, the weather set in before he had time to lay down another lap time but there is a wealth of opportunity at this track so plenty to come on Sunday."