Damon Hill gives two-word verdict after watching Max Verstappen break the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix lap record

Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen once again proved why he’s considered one of the greatest drivers in Formula 1 history at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Heading into qualifying, it appeared as though McLaren once again had a clear advantage over the likes of Red Bull, Mercedes and especially Ferrari.

Lando Norris looked like the favourite to start on pole position after having the slightest advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri across the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix race weekend.

However, Max Verstappen once again proved that going into a competitive session, he’s able to extract that additional pace needed to topple the papaya cars at the top of the time sheets.

Norris’ crash at the start of Q3 opened the door for Verstappen, who was the only driver in contention for pole position to complete two flying laps after the red flag.

He broke the lap record by one-hundredth of a second ahead of Piastri, with George Russell and Charles Leclerc also impressing to start on the second row.

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Damon Hill lauds Max Verstappen after setting the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix lap record

Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill took to social media after qualifying to give his verdict on several events that took place during the hour-long session on Saturday evening in Jeddah.

Hill was posing on his Instagram story, and called Williams’ qualifying, ‘very good,’ after Carlos Sainz secured P6, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda, and Alex Albon was 11th.

The 1996 champion commented that it was ‘very close,’ when discovering that Yuki Tsunoda had given Verstappen a distant tow on his final flying lap that was worth nearly a tenth of a second, which was enough to usurp Piastri.

He then said on social media, ‘We do love Yuki,’ when reading his comments about being about to beat Verstappen in his ‘best shape,’ something that fans haven’t seen yet this season.

Reacting to Verstappen’s Saudi Arabian lap record time of 1:27.294, Hill simply commented on Instagram, ‘Very fast,’ an understatement to say the least when studying the Dutchman’s lap.

Piastri might be disappointed that he couldn’t beat Verstappen as he didn’t quite put in the perfect final lap, even if he benefited from being able to secure a banker time before Norris’ red flag.

The Australian will have to nail his race start alongside Verstappen on Sunday to try and take the lead into the first corner on this extremely fast street circuit.

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Max Verstappen’s Red Bull future still a hot topic in the Saudi Arabian GP paddock

Verstappen has done all of his talking on the track so far this weekend, avoiding any speculation about his Red Bull future.

He’s having to put in perfect performances to beat a superior McLaren car, and Red Bull’s performance in Bahrain last weekend highlights the fact that Verstappen can only do so much in certain situations to limit the damage Norris and Piastri are doing to his championship ambitions.

Verstappen’s manager was spotted speaking to a rival team principal in the paddock in Saudi Arabia.

There have been suggestions that Verstappen could take a sabbatical in 2026 before deciding which team he wants to race for during the next era of Formula 1.

For now, Verstappen appears to be fully focused on Red Bull and winning his fifth consecutive championship with the team, and is pushing the RB21 to the limits to try and defeat the likes of Piastri and Norris.