Jenson Button claims Max Verstappen put in 'BEST-EVER' pole lap in F1 history

Monaco Grand Prix

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Button claims Verstappen put in 'BEST-EVER' pole lap in F1 history

Jenson Button could not speak highly enough of qualifying after a stunning session which saw Max Verstappen end up on top

Dan McCarthy

Sunday 28 May 2023 09:58

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Jenson Button has described qualifying for Monaco this weekend as the "best" session he has ever seen.

It was a truly gripping afternoon in the Principality with driving pushing the absolute limits of themselves as well as their cars.

Ultimately, the cream rose to the top as Max Verstappen pulled out a blistering pole lap to break the hearts of Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin who thought they had pole in the bag.

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? QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION ?

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Charles Leclerc starts third while Esteban Ocon came an impressive fourth for Alpine, ensuring that four teams are in the first four places on the grid.

Button, speaking on Sky Sports F1 as a pundit after the session, was visibly buzzing with what he had just seen, saying: "It's amazing. For me, that was the best qualifying session I've ever watched."

"You've got four drivers and four different teams within two-tenths. And, you know they are giving it their all."

Button marvels at Verstappen speed and skill

Verstappen's pole lap is one for the ages, considering how relatively far back he was going into the last sector.

He was two-tenths adrift of Alonso going into the final sector just after the swimming pool complex of the track but hurled his Red Bull car around the remaining corners to take first position.

Verstappen and Alonso have a post-quali debrief

He even clipped the walls ever so slightly in the last couple of corners with Button likening what he saw to something from a "computer game".

“Mega last sector. It was like a computer game, he just put it on the barrier and let it carry him around," the 2009 world champion added.

"The exit of the second part of the chicane he hit the wall, and then coming onto the straight, the right-hand side - he’s trying to cut it that fine that he’s tapped the wall on the right-hand side. That was a hard hit, he even said it was a hard hit."