Max Verstappen has written off his 2025 title chances after suffering a surprise Q1 elimination at Formula 1‘s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which has left him chasing answers.
Having spurned three points to championship leader Lando Norris after the Sprint Race at the Interlagos Circuit, Verstappen came into qualifying hoping to make amends.
However, his struggles with the RB21 persisted, leading to the Dutchman getting knocked out at the very first hurdle in Q1, leaving him set to start down in 16th place.
Friday running had the 28-year-old already raising alarms as he had labelled his Red Bull as “undriveable”.
Verstappen conceded that despite making alterations to the RB21 overnight, the team has not been able to rectify or even identify the root of its problems in Brazil this weekend.
“We need to understand what our problems are first of all. I mean, it’s just not been good,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“I mean, it seems like we don’t really understand why it’s going that way.
“[We have] just no grip. [We] changed a few things on the car and it didn’t work. So that’s something that we need to figure out.”
After Sprint Qualifying, Verstappen had highlighted the RB21’s issues around Interlagos but especially singled out the middle sector as a weakness.
But come Saturday, the Dutchman was also left perplexed with the car’s performance in the final sector as a set-up change failed to pay any dividends.
“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,” he revealed.
“So, yeah, something is just really off. But there’s a lack of information.”
When asked if his issues could be related to the downforce levels and tyre temperatures at the track, Verstappen insisted that the team had absolutely no answers.
“We don’t know. I mean, nothing really seems to work. We change a lot on the car and yeah, we just don’t understand,” he reiterated.
Verstappen writes off 2025 F1 title ambitions
Coming into the race weekend at Interlagos, Verstappen trailed Norris by 36 points in his quest for a fifth successive World title, which has since grown to 39 points.
With Norris to start Sunday’s race from pole position and the RB21’s inexplicable drop in pace, Verstappen has categorically shut down any talks about his chances.
“I can forget about [the championship]. Yes, for sure,” he admitted.
“With this kind of performances, I mean, forget about it. But it’s important to get answers on why the car is… For sure, yeah.”
Verstappen was pretty forthcoming about the extent to which Red Bull had gone this weekend to unlock pace from its package, including running two different floor configurations.
“I mean, there’s so many things that we need to get right, I guess. So we’ll look overnight again, I guess, to try something or understand something,” he added.
“Something is just not switching on in our car at the moment. We used two different floors, so… Clearly, that is not it.”
Last year, Verstappen pulled off a spectacular drive to win the race from 17th in the wet, all but ensuring that he would win the title for a fourth straight campaign.
When asked whether he was hoping for a similar turnaround, he simply shut those suggestions. “Different circumstances,” he concluded.
READ MORE – Lando Norris storms to F1 Brazil GP pole, Max Verstappen out in Q1
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