This is how Max Verstappen saved his weekend in Imola

Max Verstappen was frustrated on Friday at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola. Nothing seemed to work during the first two free practice sessions. After the third and final free practice did not go as hoped, the reigning world champion was fearing the worst. After all, Max Verstappen once again demonstrated his skill. In qualifying, the moment that really matters, the Dutchman managed to take pole with a sublime performance.

While Sergio Perez failed to get out of Q2, Verstappen performed as usual. With the difference between the two Red Bull drivers so great, the question was: was that down to Perez or was the RB20 not so good after all? Did the 'Max factor' play a decisive role here?

"We kept on working. Even this morning, it was not good. I just kept on trying to improve the balance of the car because it was shifting a bit all over the place. I honestly went into qualifying. I was like, well, if we can get a top five, I would be happy because this weekend has been really difficult. There was really no reference going into qualifying. But it felt a lot better. I felt more comfortable. I could attack corners a bit more. And it all started to come together," said the three-time world champion.

So what's the secret? Verstappen said: "It's just following the track, to be honest. I mean, Q1, Q2, Q3, you just know where there's maybe a bit more time to gain. You try to hook up the corners a bit better. Then, of course, the final lap is all out. You try to risk it all, which I think you could see in the final corner I had at a bit of a moment there. It's just trying to get everything out of it."

With Verstappen behind the wheel, things sometimes seem so simple."It was just a lot more difficult than we expected it to be for whatever reason. But at the end everyone just stuck together. They kept on thinking about what we could do. Also back at the factory, we had a lot of things that we could do. And we got there in the end. I think that is definitely just a great feeling when you're experiencing a really difficult weekend to then still get it right in qualifying. So of course, I hope that it doesn't happen too often. At the moment, just very pleased that we managed to turn it around."

The Dutchman will be hoping to convert his pole into his fifth race victory of the season.