Max Verstappen vented his frustration with Red Bull’s qualifying engine in Baku, after ending Q3 eighth on the grid for the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Verstappen looked like a potential polesitter after taking top spot in FP3 earlier in the day, but the RB22 was to somewhat prove to be a his downfall.
Its Ford-collaborated power unit apparently lacked enough power to see him challenge for a decent grid spot, and found himself outqualified by returning teammate Isack Hadjar, who will start the race on Saturday fourth.
Verstappen will now be left to fight through the field on the circuit he dominated last year in both, his lights-to-flag victory in 2025 now a scant memory.
After qualifying, Verstappen explained the lack of performance from the PU, handing is a four-letter worded assessment.
“The whole qualifying the engine didn’t work,” he said. “We made an adjustment to the car which also wasn’t completely positive. Compared to my teammate, I was already half a second short on the straights. And then in Q3 you want to push in the middle lap, suddenly the battery wasn’t full, doesn’t charge, doesn’t work, and then they tell me: you have to push with half a battery,
“I say yeah, f**k off. I was really completely done with it. You prepare so well for the whole weekend, the car is going well, and then everything falls apart in qualifying, there is nothing you can do about that anymore.”
Verstappen continued: “After that lap that I had to abort because the battery was only half full, the tyres cooled down too much, you can’t push because it doesn’t work, so you can’t get enough temperature into those tyres.
“So also in that final lap just not the right grip, and the same problem with the engine, the engine braking which is very strange; it’s as if you sometimes pull the handbrake in certain corners. So yeah, something is seriously wrong.”
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