The Latest Breaking News from Max Verstappen

The Woking-based team has emerged as Red Bull’s closest challenger at Imola, with its pace suggesting that it had the potential to grab pole position.

Max Verstappen will start from pole position at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari after outpacing the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, as well as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on Ferrari's turf.

An eighth pole in a row has drawn Verstappen level with the legendary Brazilian driver

Max Verstappen matched Ayrton Senna’s record of eight consecutive poles in qualifying for the F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix

Ferrari brought a comprehensive set of upgrades to its first of two home races, which it had shaken down during a filming day at Fiorano last week.

Having been congratulated on his run of poles that stretches back to the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, Verstappen was left to reflect on how his tricky event was turned around following his series of FP1 offs into the Imola gravel.

Verstappen and Red Bull had appeared on the back foot in Imola all weekend, but after turning around their car set-up, Verstappen came up with a big lap when it mattered and held off McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris for his eighth successive pole.

Finding a remedy to the team's situation, where it seemed to struggle for a cadence over the kerbs and through the second sector of the Imola circuit, was going to test the team's usual overnight work heading into Saturday. Both the trackside and factory divisions at Red Bull had to…

On a weekend where Red Bull had to adjust its ride height set-ups considerably to cope with the RB20's ongoing dislike for kerbs, Perez's crash late in FP3 meant Max Verstappen went into qualifying without any flying lap preparation on the soft tyres.

For an eighth consecutive Formula 1 grand prix, Verstappen took pole position to equal Ayrton Senna’s all-time record on pole streaks.

Having struggled in all three practice sessions so far at the Emilia-Romagna race, Verstappen hailed Red Bull's pre-qualifying set-up changes for "feeling a bit better and I could push a bit".