"A full tenth in that s**t box": Max Verstappen's friend reacts to the Red Bull driver securing pole position for the F1 British GP

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen took the pole position for the 2025 British GP by doing what he does best, extracting the most out of the car on Saturday, July 5. The Dutchman’s friend and his sim racing Team Redline member Luke Crane reacted to Verstappen's pole position lap with a sly post on X.

Max Verstappen wasn't the favorite to take the pole position at the British GP, considering the Red Bull RB21’s recent performances and the Dutchman's struggles in the practice session with the car. Both Ferrari and McLaren drivers, on the other hand, looked to fight it out for pole position at Silverstone.

However, one simply doesn't discount Verstappen out of a pole position battle as the Red Bull driver has the ability to go beyond the performance of the car, as he's done many times in the past. After the banker Q3 runs, the Dutchman was nearly three-tenths slower than Oscar Piastri's provisional pole lap time.

Coming into the final Q3 runs, Norris and Piastri weren't able to improve massively on their banker laps. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, despite setting early purple sectors, made mistakes in the final sector and weren't able to challenge for the pole position.

Max Verstappen, on the other hand, set the fastest first and second sectors and kept it all together in the final to take the pole position away from Oscar Piastri by a little over a tenth of a second.

Verstappen's friend Luke Crane, who is Team Redline’s manager and often plays games with the Dutchman on stream, pointed out how the four-time F1 champion was able to put the troublesome RB21 in the top spot. He wrote:

“A full tenth in that s**t box 😂 Fair play.”

The pole at the British GP is Max Verstappen's first pole in six races, with the last one coming in at the Miami GP.

Max Verstappen's struggles with the RB21 during the British GP practice

Max Verstappen has had a troublesome last few races in the RB21, standing on the podium only once in the last four races. The Dutchman constantly complained about the balance of the car and other issues like brakes and the gearbox.

Red Bull brought an updated floor to the Austrian GP, followed by further changes to the floor at the British GP. However, the struggles continued as Verstappen claimed he had an undrivable car in the FP1 session at Silverstone, where the car understeered into the corner with a snap of oversteer on exit. The reigning F1 champion was frustrated, came on the radio, and said:

“Unbelievable”

However, the struggles didn't end there, with Verstappen continuing his complaints in the qualifying session. After the banker lap in Q3, the Red Bull driver on the team radio complained, saying:

“The car is just so difficult.”

Verstappen, unlike the other top runners around him, has opted for a low downforce package for the British GP, which will help him defend against the McLarens on the straights in Sunday's race.