Christian Horner wins £435 off Red Bull boss as Verstappen lands Abu Dhabi pole
Christian Horner pocketed £435 off Red Bull chief Helmut Marko after Max Verstappen put in another vintage performance during qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Verstappen showed no signs of slowing down at the end of another dominant season as he claimed pole position at Yas Marina for the fourth time in a row at the track. It was also his 14th of the season at the final race weekend of the year.
However, it seems the three-time world champ still has doubters, even from inside the Red Bull camp after Horner revealed to his star driver that he made a bet with the team’s chief Marko over Verstappen’s ability to qualify on the front row.
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Speaking to Verstappen on the radio after he secured pole position, his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase said: “I reckon you owe this beatbox an apology mate, it’s P1.” Verstappen replied in buoyant mood, thanking the team for the “great job” after car struggles earlier in the weekend.
Horner soon jumped on the radio to Verstappen, saying: “Well done mate, you've just won me €500 (£435) off Helmut which is like getting blood out of a stone, so fantastic job.” A shocked Verstappen replied “Helmut lost a bet? What world are we living in?”
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Still buzzing from winning a bet and seeing Verstappen take another pole position, Horner replied: “Exactly! The bet was for you to be on the front row mate.” To which the three-time world champ laughed back: “Haha, nice!”
Verstappen was previously only able to finish in P6 during FP3 after missing FP1 with him and Sergio Perez stepping as side as Red Bull youngsters Jake Dennis and Isack Hadjar got to grips with an F1 car.
The starting grid tomorrow (Sunday 26th) sees Verstappen joined on the front row by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris qualified either side of George Russell in P4 as he continued his promising weekend form. Perez qualified in P9 after his final and best lap time was deleted for track limits.
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