Echo to Rotterdam! And the Handball World Cup reacted to Max Verstappen's pole + Red Bull driver's words
Article by Adrian Jitea, Daniel Grigore – Published Saturday, 06 December 2025, 17:44 / Updated Saturday, 06 December 2025 17:45
Max Verstappen, 28, was the fastest in the last qualifying session from this season of Formula 1. The success of the Red Bull Racing driver echoed all the way to Rotterdam, where matches from the Women's Handball World Championship are still played today.
This afternoon, the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi hosted the final qualifying session of the year.
On the first 3 positions were even the 3 drivers who still have a chance for the title. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) will start from pole position. Lando Norris (McLaren), the favorite for the world title, also made his way to the front row, who requires a podium finish to become champion for the first timeand Oscar Piastri will leave third.
Qualifying was of particular importance, given the battle that awaits us on Sunday at 15:00 when the Grand Prix was scheduled.
Echo to Rotterdam! And the Handball World Cup reacted to Max Verstappen's pole
Verstappen's success reverberated all the way back to his native Holland. GSP reporters traveling to Rotterdam for the Women's Handball World Championship witnessed a real one explosions of joy in Rotterdam Ahoy, the multipurpose hall that hosts matches in the handball competition.
A few minutes after the end of qualifying, the arena announcer announced in the hall that Verstappen had obtained the pole position. The reaction of the local public? Cheers and cheers for their compatriot, who on Sunday could win their fifth consecutive Formula 1 title!
For that, Verstappen needs to win the race and Lando Norris needs to finish 4th at best. In this scenario, Oscar Piastri's position would no longer matter.
At that moment, Austria – Tunisia was playing in Rotterdam, but about 2,000 Dutch people had already arrived in the multipurpose hall, as a little later, at 21:30, the host national team will face Poland.
Max Verstappen: “The setting changes helped me”
After qualifying, Verstappen revealed that Red Bull engineers had changed the car's settings after the final free practice session.
“You have to try and guess how much the track conditions will improve. Sure, it's getting quite cold, but you can't be 100% sure that [schimbările] they will work,” Verstappen said, referring to the temperature difference, with qualifying taking place later in the evening.
“But I think that what I changed helped me feel a little better in qualifying. In Q2 I used used tyres, I did some decent laps, but in Q3 you know the temperature drops, you know you can push a bit harder and that's exactly what I did.
We managed to extract more time and we are incredibly happy to be in pole-position. It's the only thing we can do, right? The only one we can control. We try to maximize everything we can in the single-seater and that's exactly what we did in qualifying,” he added, according to racingnews365.
