The day of an outstanding Max: 'He dashes our hopes again'

Verstappen was four-tenths faster than his closest rival Lando Norris, during qualifying on Saturday afternoon. Four-tenths on a track of only 4.318 kilometres is an eternity in Formula 1. And earlier in the day, Verstappen also won the sprint race in style. With his fast time in Q3 and that supreme sprint win, Verstappen and his team Red Bull made a clear statement: 'Don't write us off, even though we have had some tough weeks'.

Of course, the concerns of recent weeks - widely reported in the press - made sense. In Imola, Canada, Monaco and Barcelona, Red Bull had difficult moments, but mostly the team did manage to win. Thanks to an always great Verstappen, who has taken another step in terms of level this season. Then, when the RB20 goes like a train from the first metres on a weekend like in Austria, it is unbeatable when combined with Verstappen.

McLaren could not match Verstappen

McLaren also saw that on Saturday at the Red Bull Ring. Andrea Stella, the British team boss, had obviously hoped for a win in the sprint race and pole in qualifying. But nobody could match Verstappen; not even the in-form Lando Norris and the McLaren team.

As the paddock emptied on Saturday night, Stella, in McLaren's temporary motorhome, mostly expressed his admiration for the level of performance of his biggest rival. "Reality is that everyone is within a small lap time delta, let's say, and depending on the conditions, depending on the track layout then one has a little bit of an edge compared to the other three teams."

"Certainly there's something that is pretty constant, I guess you know what it is, it's just Max Verstappen, he always does a good job. So, like I often say, hats off to Max and Red Bull because of the capacity they have to deliver when it's the time to deliver." Only to add a moment later: "Certainly we always enter weekends with a lot of hope, and then as we go through the session Max kind of compromises this optimism."

Hamilton stunned by gap to Verstappen

The Orange Army populated the grandstands. A day when Verstappen once again showed his class and, thanks to an excellent RB20 this time, immediately declassified the rest as well. Most memorable was the reaction of Lewis Hamilton, who could barely comprehend the difference in qualifying between him and Verstappen (six tenths). "We're down a lot in the high speed compared to Max. A lot. It's insane how much faster they are in the high speed. I think they're about 12-13 kph faster, which is huge."

So yes, Jos Verstappen had summed up the day absolutely perfectly. That performance by Max was indeed 'not wrong'.