Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Formula 1
Marcus Chan
Max Verstappen's immediate response to a shock qualifying exit has been revealed.
On Saturday, Verstappen, who has been struggling with his Red Bull car all weekend, came fourth in the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint, behind the likes of George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris.
The Dutchman was looking for a better result in qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix as he hopes to keep his chances of winning the world title alive.
However, Verstappen failed to get out of the bottom five after two flying laps, meaning he will start in 16th place on Sunday.
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Immediately after being knocked out of Q1, Verstappen offered a sarcastic response on his team radio: "I have no grip, zero! Brilliant."
Reacting to Verstappen's exit, Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle said: "That's a shocker! Verstappen with no pace at all. And totally, unusually for him, no clue as to what to do with the car."
Earlier in the session, Verstappen stated: "Oh my god. The ride is a tiny bit better but now sliding in Turn 1.
"I don't really know what to tell you."
When asked about Red Bull's disastrous qualifying session at Interlagos, team boss Laurent Mekies spoke about the set-up risks.
He said: "Obviously nobody expected something like that.
"We have been unhappy with the car pretty much since we got here. Nonetheless we were at the point where we could not fight for the win but we could fight with the group just after."
Mekies continued: "It's fair to say 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.
"It's sometimes the price you pay when you take a risk."
Speaking at the media area after the session, Verstappen said: "It's not what you want to see. This is.. a bit unexpected, after changing quite a bit on the car. It was not responding, I had no grip, I really had to underdrive it basically."
Ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix, Verstappen trail Oscar Piastri by 30 points, with Norris 39 points ahead of the reigning world champion.