Max Verstappen suffered a humiliating Q1 exit in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, and his dad Jos was seen storming out of the Red Bull garage
Max Verstappen’s dad Jos stormed out of the Red Bull garage after his son suffered a disastrous Q1 exit in qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The reigning Formula 1 champion could only manage 16th fastest, marking his first bottom-five qualifying position in four years.
Verstappen had already struggled for pace during Sprint qualifying and the Sprint race itself, despite salvaging fourth place. He had vowed to alter his car’s set-up ahead of qualifying, hoping to improve driveability for the remainder of the weekend.
But that decision appears to have spectacularly backfired. Throughout Q1 on Saturday evening, he voiced his frustrations over team radio, including one sarcastic message to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase: “I have no grip, zero – brilliant.” When asked what adjustments he wanted, the Dutchman seemed completely stumped.
As he completed his final flying lap, he remained stuck in 16th position on the timesheets – not good enough to advance to Q2. Compounding Red Bull’s misery, team-mate Yuki Tsunoda also endured a torrid session, qualifying a lowly 19th and bringing a premature end to the team’s qualifying efforts.
Television cameras swiftly panned to the Red Bull garage, capturing Jos Verstappen storming out through the back, visibly displeased at what had just unfolded. Team principal Laurent Mekies remained at his post on the pit wall despite his own disappointment.
He told Sky Sports: “Nobody expected something like that. We have been unhappy with the car pretty much since we got here and you heard our struggles through the practice session and sprint quali and the sprint. But nonetheless, we were at the point where we could not fight for the win but we could fight with the group just after.
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“It’s fair to say that we took some risk before qualifying to try to see if we could put the car in a better place, and it obviously went in the opposite direction. So that is where we are now. It’s sometimes the price you pay when you take risks. It can’t always go your way. It’s painful, but it’s something that we can learn from and improve.”
This marks the first occasion Verstappen has been knocked out in Q1 during a Grand Prix qualifying session since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix in Sochi. Though he may draw encouragement from his remarkable victory in Brazil last year, when he triumphed from 17th on the grid following a penalty.
However, this was achieved with a significantly faster Red Bull vehicle, whereas his current car evidently doesn’t match his driving style. With championship leader Lando Norris starting on pole, Verstappen is under pressure to pull off another extraordinary recovery race, or it could spell the end for his fading title aspirations.
“It was just bad,” the Dutchman said of his car’s performance. “I couldn’t push at all. The car was all over the place, sliding around a lot. I had to underdrive it a lot just to not have a moment, and that, of course, does not work in qualifying. I don’t really understand how it can be this bad, so that’s a bit more important for us to understand at the moment.”
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