Tsunoda PAINFUL Post Race Team Radio After Finishing LAST in Brazil

 Title contender Max Verstappen was dealt a blow in his

hopes of closing the gap to Lando Norris as he was knocked

out in Q1 at Interlagos.

Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies admitted that the

changes made to Max Verstappen’s car between an

underwhelming Sprint performance and Qualifying in Sao

Paulo “went in the opposite direction” and contributed to his

early Q1 exit.

The Dutchman has succeeded in gradually narrowing the

deficit to the McLaren pair in the drivers’ standings across

recent rounds. With a gap of 36 points at the beginning of

the weekend, there was undoubtedly potential for him to hunt

down his fifth championship with another strong showing.

However, his ambitions were dealt a heavy blow in Qualifying

for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix with Red Bull's post-Sprint

adjustments seemingly leading to an uncontrollable lack of

grip.

He reported over the radio in Q1 that he had “no grip –

zero”, which was a concern that several drivers had

expressed throughout the day due to the tricky weather

conditions.

However, Verstappen’s experience with the slippery surface

was reflected dramatically in his performance as he wound up

in P16, with his team mate Yuki Tsunoda also knocked out in

P19.

“Today has not been a positive day for the Team, but one

we will try and learn from,” Mekies summarised afterwards.

“The Sprint was tough and we did not have the pace to fight

for the win.

“We were not happy with where we were after the Sprint,

so we decided to make a number of changes. It is part of the

risk taking we felt was necessary to see if we could get

more out of the car.

“It didn’t work and if anything, it went in the opposite

direction and clearly, we lost a lot of competitiveness. It is

painful and difficult to accept but it is what happens when

you take risks sometimes and the best we can do is to learn

from it and see where we can improve the car from here.”

While teams like McLaren and Mercedes have managed the

unique challenges of the old-school track well, Red Bull have

not been able to find momentum, leaving Verstappen with an

uphill fight to return to the points.

He famously did so in a similar situation last season in Brazil,

recovering from P17 to P1 in a rain-soaked race, but the lack

of a downpour in the weather forecast could make a similar

recovery even harder.

Mekies added: “It’s fair to say we are missing the right

window for the car for this circuit, in these conditions. That

is where the effort will go and we will look at the options to

see how we can improve the situation. All the team is fully

focused to get both cars into a more competitive place for

the race tomorrow.”