Horner hails Monaco pole as ‘best lap of his career’ - but Verstappen disagrees
Verstappen claimed his first-ever pole position in Monaco with a storming final sector, 0.3s quicker than Fernando Alonso - who secured second - in the last part of the lap alone.
The reigning F1 world champion was consistently quicker than Alonso throughout qualifying in sector three, but saved his best until the end to take pole position.
Horner proclaimed that it was Verstappen’s greatest pole position lap.
“They’re sort of somewhere in the middle. I’m elated for Max. Probably the best qualifying lap of his career. And Checo unfortunately made a mistake, too, early in Q1,” Horner said.
“I can only think maybe he was distracted by the pit light on the right-hand side because he just misjudged that first turn and the circuit was only going to get faster and faster.
“So he’ll be kicking himself for that.”
Verstappen was then asked in the FIA press conference if he felt it was his best.
He replied: "No I don't think so, but it was good enough. I'm just glad to have got my first pole here.
Verstappen will look to hold off Alonso - who is searching for his first F1 grand prix in over a decade.
With overtaking so difficult around the streets of Monaco, inevitably the start will most likely dictate who wins the race.
“I mean, there’s a great respect between Fernando and Max, but they’re very similar characters. They come from the same cloth. They’re both hard racers,” he added.
“They both want to win this race, and I’m sure Fernando sees a chance. He knows how valuable that start is tomorrow. So that first 500 metres is going to be what dictates this Grand Prix.”
