Red Bull endured a bruising Friday afternoon at Interlagos as Max Verstappen qualified just sixth for Saturday’s F1 São Paulo Sprint, grappling with persistent handling issues, while Yuki Tsunoda suffered an early exit.
After a strong run of form post-summer break, Verstappen’s charge has seemingly stalled.
McLaren set the pace early on with a dominant 1-2 in Friday’s only practice session; meanwhile, both Red Bull drivers finished FP1 in the bottom five.
Hopes of a turnaround failed to materialise in the afternoon as the struggles continued, with Yuki Tsunoda getting knocked out already in SQ1. Verstappen advanced to the final segment of the São Paulo Sprint Qualifying session but was vocally displeased with the performance of the car, complaining of a lack of grip and at one point stating the RB21 felt “completely broken”. His final run was only enough to secure P6, sandwiched between the two Aston Martin drivers who enjoyed a surprisingly strong outing.
Verstappen laments ride problems and a lack of grip
Asked about his remarks about the car and whether it felt significantly worse compared to FP1, Verstappen told the official F1 channel: “No, I mean, a lot of vibration in the car. A lot of just ride problems. So, yeah, not what we want. But I mean, besides that, I think also we just don’t have the grip.
“The middle sector is terrible,” he continued. “I just can’t get the car to turn. But at the same time, also, I can’t really rely on the rear. So, yeah, for us, just quite poor, I would say. It is what it is.”
When asked whether the expected rain on Saturday might open a window of opportunity, Verstappen remained unconvinced.
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
“We’ll find out, right? I mean, I think it’s quite clear that we are lacking something. And I’m not expecting that suddenly to be miles better in the wet. But we’ll see tomorrow.”
Tsunoda puzzled by SQ1 exit
The Japanese driver echoed Verstappen’s words regarding the lack of grip, admitting he can’t pinpoint what exactly went wrong. Tsunoda qualified 18th, having struggled to piece together a clean lap despite feeling he’d executed his run reasonably well.
Asked whether the minimal practice running contributed to the poor result, Tsunoda dismissed the idea.
“No, I wouldn’t say so, to be honest,” he replied. “But I mean, it wouldn’t help. At the same time, how I ended FP1 was pretty good. I mean, I still done enough short run, long run as well.”
The Red Bull driver admitted he felt the lap itself was decent by his standards, making the end result all the more puzzling.
“It just—the lap was pretty okay in the qualifying, just what I’ve done. So, yeah, it’s mysterious. Just lack of grip, to be honest, overall,” he said.
“But the lap itself, I’m not really… I can’t really understand, yeah, why I’m so off.”
Looking ahead to the Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying, Tsunoda emphasised the need to first unlock performance in the dry.
“Yeah, let’s see, mixed conditions,” he said when asked about Saturday’s forecast. “I don’t want to really pray for rain or dry, but so far I have to find something in the car because I just don’t understand why.”
