Max Verstappen's mother, Sophie Kumpen, shares a picture of the candle in the church she lights every Thursday before a race weekend

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's mother Sophie Kumpen shared a picture of the candle she lit in a church ahead of the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Dutch driver once again emerged as imperious on the grid as he secured his sixth and overall 45th pole position of his career in qualifying in Baku on Saturday.

The reigning four-time F1 world champion managed to remain calm under the stoppages and changes in weather elements during the two-hour-long qualifying session in Baku. Heading into the Q3 session, the 27-year-old had failed to register any time on the board, given that his two runs were interrupted by red flags, and had an uphill task ahead of him.

However, he remained focused on his job and pulled off another stunning lap to leave Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz's provisional pole lap behind by almost half a second. On her Instagram Story, Max Verstappen's mother shared a picture of a lit candle that she posted ahead of the main race and wrote:

"Every Thursday before the race,"

Snapshot of Sophie Kumpen's Story...Credits-Instagram

Earlier, Red Bull had shared a video featuring Yuki Tsunoda and Max Verstappen, where the latter explained her mother's ritual to his teammate and said:

"Every race she lights a candle in the church, every race. When I go to the pictures of my mom in her phone, everywhere you just see a candle, every week candle. It's like she thinks that it helps for safety,"

Previously, in an interview with WagsF1 in 2022, Kumpen had revealed the origins of the tradition and informed:

“In F1, since Max’s first win race for Red Bull. I’ve started since to burn a candle. And now I’m doing it every race on Thursday. I go to the little church here in town and I burn a candle and make a prayer then I send the picture to Max.”

The pole position in Baku on Saturday was Max Verstappen's first at the track and his second in succession.

McLaren team boss comments on Max Verstappen's pole in Baku

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believed that Max Verstappen was not out of the title race and claimed Red Bull have found performance since introducing a new floor in Monza a couple of weeks back.

As per Motorsport.com, the Italian reflected on the Dutch driver's performance and still being a contender:

"Of course, of course. We don't have to forget that, first of all, he's Max Verstappen - world champion for the last four years - in a fast car. Like I said before, there are races where McLaren may not enjoy any advantage from a competitiveness point of view."

The Red Bull driver remains 94 points leader, and McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and 63 points behind Lando Norris in P2.

Edited by Devang Chauhan