F1 | Red Bull, Horner after qualifying: “Max and Checo were phenomenal”

Christian Horner is over the moon after Max Verstappen's brilliant qualifying at COTA. The Dutchman, current world championship leader, placed his Red Bull ahead of Lewis Hamilton on what should have been the best track for Mercedes, at least so it was thought on paper, while in pure performance the Austrian team was superior after the problems experienced by Verstappen himself on Friday. To complete the beautiful day, third place was won by Perez, who will do everything he can to annoy Hamilton, in an all-Red Bull sandwich that he is not used to.

“Both our drivers put in a great performance, an excellent first and third place to start tomorrow's race – said the team principal of the Austrian team. It's the first time that Mercedes hasn't taken pole here in Austin since the turbo-hybrid engine was introduced, and it's also new to be two against one. Lewis did a great lap at the end, the wind dropped and the times dropped, but our car got faster. It's probably Checo's best qualifying this year in normal conditions, so we're really happy: he provisionally had pole, and Max responded and managed to improve, so it was a phenomenal performance from our drivers. It's difficult to be behind another car here, so at the first corner you want to be in front of everyone and we have two guys who will start their respective races up front. It will be an interesting first corner."