Red Bull's upgrade is a "boost for the team," claims Verstappen

Having delivered a faultless performance in qualifying at the British Grand Prix, reigning champion Max Verstappen conceded that his latest pole position came as a surprise given his struggles with his upgraded car on Friday.

Red Bull endured a shock start to the British Grand Prix weekend. The Milton Keynes-based outfit brought an updated floor to Silverstone, but the team looked unable to find the right balance for its RB21.

However, reigning champion Max Verstappen started Saturday in a much better shape, displaying heavily improved pace compared to the opening day of the weekend.

The Dutch driver then topped the first segment of qualifying and put in a sensational final flying lap to beat his nearest rivals by a tenth of a second.

His team-mate Yuki Tsunoda struggled for pace on Friday, and his weekend was also hindered by the sporting rule that forced him to sit out FP1. The Japanese driver managed to raise his game come qualifying, but it was still not enough for anything better than a P12 on the grid for tomorrow's British Grand Prix.

Reflecting on his experiences in qualifying, Verstappen conceded that his latest pole position came as a surprise given his struggles with his upgraded car on Friday.

“I’m very happy to be on Pole today. It was unexpected as we had quite a tricky day yesterday, but I’m happy with our performance today. It has been difficult this week and we have tried a few things to fix both the understeer and oversteer we have been experiencing.

"In Qualifying, everyone was struggling with the wind and with the weather turning, but then we felt a lot more stable towards the end and the balance was better. We ultimately had a lot lower downforce than the others so were quicker on the straight.

"We really put it together today in Q3 and on that final run. In the first corner I could feel more grip and balance and then this continued into turns six and seven. We were already three tenths up and I really didn’t want to make a mistake going into the final sector!

"It was also great to find the potential out of the upgrade and this is a great boost for the Team. Tomorrow will be difficult; tyre management is going to be important as the wear has always been tough round here, so we hope we can be competitive and can hopefully give it a good go.”