Max Verstappen FURIOUS Reaction After His First Q1 Exit in Brazil GP

 Max Verstappen and Red Bull endured a nightmare

qualifying at the Brazilian Grand Prix, with Verstappen

failing to progress beyond Q1.

Verstappen’s first Q1 exit since Russia 2021, and his

first on pure pace ever in Formula 1, the reigning world

champion was a shock casualty in the opening stage of

qualifying. Alarmingly, Verstappen said that Red Bull has

no idea what caused the RB21 to suffer so profoundly,

Verstappen at a loss as to “how it can be this bad.”

Max Verstappen falls in Brazilian Grand Prix Q1

Verstappen was able to recover to fourth from P6 on

the grid in the Brazil Sprint. But, as qualifying for the

Grand Prix arrived, disaster struck.

Both Verstappen and Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda

– as they began their final Q1 lap – were left in need

of a quicker time to make the Q2 cut. Neither driver

could manage it.

“It was just bad,” Verstappen lamented as he spoke to

Sky F1 after his elimination.

“I mean, 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, doesn’t work in qualifying.”

Verstappen will be 16th only on the grid for Sunday’s

Grand Prix. He won from further back at Interlagos last

year, but under very different circumstances. This

time, there is no grid penalty which places Verstappen

into unfamiliar territory. It was simply a lack of pace.

And concerningly, Verstappen says he and Red Bull

have no idea why they were so slow.

“I mean, we first have to analyse what is going on,”

said Verstappen when asked what is possible in the

race.

“I don’t really understand how it can be this bad. So

that’s a bit more important to understand at the

moment.”

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Speaking to the media post-qualifying, Verstappen

reiterated that “it seems like we don’t really

understand why” the RB21 took such a turn for the

worse.

“Just no grip,” he added. “Changed a few things in the

car and it didn’t work, so that’s something that we

need to figure out.

“Nothing really seems to work. We changed a lot on

the car, and, yeah, we just don’t understand.

“Something is clearly just not working for us. Even with

the changes of the set-up, normally, you would feel

some kind of reaction, but it doesn’t. So, yeah,

something is just really off.”

Verstappen admitted that at this point, he can “forget

about” the idea of winning a fifth consecutive Drivers’

title. He goes into the race 39 points behind Lando

Norris in top spot.

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Verstappen suffers major blow with shock Q1 exit