Max Verstappen says he has “no idea what’s going on” with his Red Bull after a disappointing qualifying session at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The four-time F1 drivers’ champion qualified sixth at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, just ahead of Isack Hadjar in the sister RB22.
Vocal about his dissatisfaction over team radio, the Dutchman was heard complaining about the situation, including his lack of straight-line speed at numerous points across the grid-setting hour.
His weekend in Montreal has been in stark contrast to the previous round in Miami, when the 28-year-old was much more comfortable in the cockpit after a raft of upgrades.
The straight-line speed of his car was also impressive, leading the field. But that pace appears to have evaporated.
Between runs, Verstappen told Red Bull: “Hey, what’s going on with this straight-line speed, because it’s completely fucked.”
But his anguish would not stop there, with the 71-time grand prix winner also saying to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase: “Mate, there is something fucked. Like this is impossible – it’s impossible. What the fuck is going on here!” and: “There’s something really wrong. We need to check, guys. It’s not possible.”
When asked about those latter comments, Verstappen expressed his confusion at the situation.
“I don’t know, that’s the honest answer,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1. “I have no idea what’s going on. Everything is so confusing, and the setup change that we made, I also didn’t like. It was very difficult, very confusing, everything.”
When question on how tough the RB22 is on the scale of F1 cars that he has driven, he simply replied: “It’s not only tough, but everything is confusing, so not really a lot of words.”
