Max Verstappen described himself as “beyond frustrated” after a shock Q2 elimination left him 11th on the grid at Suzuka — a track where he had claimed the last four pole positions. The three-time champion said his RB’s balance was unpredictable and, at times, “undriveable” during qualifying.
Team-mate Isack Hadjar reached Q3 and took eighth, outpacing Verstappen on raw speed for the first time since September 2024 in Azerbaijan. Hadjar had also beaten Verstappen in qualifying at the season-opener in Australia, an event in which Verstappen later suffered a crash caused by a car issue.
“I’m not even frustrated anymore. I’m beyond that,” Verstappen said, struggling to explain the performance loss. He has scored only eight points from the opening two rounds and reported particular difficulties through medium- to high-speed corners.
Red Bull arrived at Suzuka with a revised package — new sidepods, a reworked floor and a different engine cover — and Verstappen ran a different aero specification this weekend. Despite those changes, he said the car failed to improve.
“The car never turns mid-corner and it’s been oversteering on entry — really difficult and unpredictable,” he told Sky Sports F1. He added that FP3 showed some small progress but qualifying brought the problem back to an unacceptable level. Verstappen also warned there are issues the team knows exist but that fluctuate in severity.
Team principal Laurent Mekies admitted Red Bull are facing a testing spell while they try to understand and fix balance and performance shortfalls. He said the first step is diagnosing the precise limitation, after which the development race begins, and acknowledged the team is missing performance in multiple areas.
Mekies pointed to the late push on development last year and called the current car a very new product the squad is still learning to extract performance from. “Nobody is happy with where we are,” he said, noting morale is low but that engineers and drivers are working hard. He added the team must use these difficult moments to build the foundations for future gains and believes there is more to be unlocked from the package.
Sky Sports F1 will broadcast live coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix from Suzuka, with build-up from 4:30am, the race at 6:00am and post-race analysis to follow.