Verstappen knew first F1 pole was only "a matter of time"

Max Verstappen says he knew achieving his first-ever Formula 1 pole position was only “a matter of time” after securing the feat at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver beat both Mercedes drivers to become F1’s 100th different polesitter, turning in a lap around the Hungaroring that was just 0.018s faster than Valtteri Bottas.

Verstappen ended his 93-race wait to top a grand prix qualifying session thanks to his brilliant performance in Hungary.

Asked how it felt to finally claim a pole position, Verstappen replied: “People will stop asking me that question!

“I knew it was a matter of time, you need a bit of luck sometimes as well.

“Of course I made mistakes myself to miss the pole position shot but today we got it, so very happy with that.

“The car felt good all weekend and then, of course you know it's always going to be hard in qualifying, but yeah we managed to do it,” he added.

“A big thank you to the team, the car was flying out there in qualifying, it was incredible.

“It’s always a bit of a question mark in terms of how it going to work out in qualifying when we know they are going to turn up a bit more power but we seemed to hang in there and the car actually got better and better throughout qualifying.

“I was very happy with it, very pleased. It was really enjoyable to drive. I didn’t really have any comments through quali, just keep the car going and give me new tyres.

“That’s exactly what we did. Of course to get your first pole is very nice, but it’s what counts on Sundays always.”

Verstappen believes the result demonstrates the hard work made by both Red Bull and Honda, adding the team is now able to turn up its power modes in qualifying - just not to the same “aggressive” extent as rivals Ferrari and Mercedes.

“We kept working really hard to improve the engine to get a bit more out if it in qualifying and I think that showed today,” he explained.

“We were able to push it a bit more, but of course within the limits of not blowing up.

“We keep improving, there are positive things also coming in the upcoming races, and of course very happy to get my first pole position.

“But also for the team with how quickly we turned it around from the beginning of the season where we were clearly lacking and now we are definitely closing up, and this weekend we were there so that’s good.”