Max Verstappen's team radio message about Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri has gone viral after the sprint qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix.
On Friday afternoon, the qualifying session for the sprint race took place at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Championship leader Piastri stormed to pole position after clocking a stunning time of 1:40:510, with Verstappen in second and Norris in third.
Further down the grid, it was a horrible afternoon for Mercedes as George Russell only managed to qualify in 13th place, with rookie Kimi Antonelli last.
Advert
Meanwhile, ex-Mercedes star and now Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton went off in his final flying lap, which meant he was knocked out of SQ1 and will start Saturday's sprint in 18th place.
It was, though, a good showing from Verstappen as he refused to let the ongoing noise surrounding his future impact his driving.
Immediately after sprint qualifying, Verstappen's team radio went viral on social media.
The Dutchman said: "So.. That's P2?"
His race engineer for this weekend, Simon Rennie, who replaced the usual Gianpiero Lambiase, replied: "Yeah, that's it mate. P2. Nice job."
Verstappen then said: "Alright. Well. Atleast we got one, not bad."
Reacting in the comments section, fans were admant that the team radio message was a reference to the McLarens.
The Papaya team have dominated the 2025 season so far and Verstappen was clearly chuffed to have managed to split the two McLaren drivers for the sprint race.
One fan said: ""at least we got one" as if he was a hitman lmao."
Another tweeted: "Had a feeling Max could split the McLaren’s after that excellent SQ2 lap, if he gets in front at the start he’s got a chance given how much quicker he is on the straights."
A third fan added: "P2 is a fantastic result, Max! What a drive! Love the positive attitude, "at least we got one"."
Someone else wrote: ""at least we got one" LMAO he is hunting these ballistic missiles on foot like wild boars i rate him more than he'll ever know."
A fifth commented: "“at least we got one” my man HATES those mclarens."
Speaking after the session, Verstappen said: "Being P2 between the McLarens is already a good result for us. I do think we maximised that.
"I enjoyed it out there. The lap itself was fine, it was good. Of course the gap is very big, but it’s been big already from FP1, so it’s not a big surprise. We just have to focus on ourselves and work on the balance of the car and try to go faster."
Topics: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Formula 1, Fan Reactions, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris
Marcus Chan