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Max Verstappen endured a difficult qualifying session for the Sprint at Interlagos, finishing sixth after battling serious handling issues in his Red Bull RB21. While McLaren's Lando Norris took pole position with a lap of 1:09.243, the Dutchman could only manage a 1:09.580 and expressed his dissatisfaction on team radio.
The reigning champion's frustration was evident from the start. Norris led SQ3, with Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli coming in second, just 0.097s behind. Oscar Piastri completed the top three, continuing McLaren's strong form. Verstappen was seen shaking his head in the cockpit after crossing the line.
Yuki Tsunoda's P18 finish amplified Red Bull's struggles. After complaining about excessive bounce around the corners, Verstappen said on the radio after SQ2:
“The car is completely broken, it's a pogo stick, it's completely undriveable.”
Despite stable conditions and a dry track, the RB21 appeared to be unbalanced in both low and medium speed sections, leaving Max Verstappen struggling with grip and pace. His laps lacked the precision that usually defines his qualifying races. The car's instability through the Senna S curbs and Turn 10 left him unable to establish a consistent pace and he finished more than three tenths behind pacesetter Lando Norris.
The weekend had started with similar signs in Friday's solitary training session. Verstappen finished 17th after running only the hards, focusing on long-term set-up work. Red Bull chose not to switch to softs, leaving them without a pace comparable to rivals.
Instead, both McLarens set the early benchmark, with Norris leading his teammate Piastri. It was a worrying indicator Red Bullas Verstappen's lap data showed significant losses in mid-corner traction and stability zones.
Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko agree on Red Bull's handling problems
With four rounds and two Sprints remaining in the 2025 season, Max Verstappen remains third in the championship with 321 points, behind Lando Norris (357) and Oscar Piastri (356). But with sliding and balance issues lingering, the Dutchman admitted his sprint qualifying session felt “awful”.
“It was horrible,” Verstappen said afterwards. “A lot of vibration in the car, a lot of bouncing and also no grip in slow corners. No turning, no traction.”
Verstappen's strong assessment was echoed by the Red Bull team consultant Helmut Markowho has highlighted that the team's main challenge lies in the lack of mechanical grip.
“If it's wet, Max is in a class by himself,” noted Marko. “But we can't make adaptations for the main race. We have nothing to lose, so we have to go there. The problem was enough grip. We're losing four tenths in Sector 2. For the sprint, because of the closed park, we can't change anything, but we hope to collect enough information to adapt the car for qualifying and the race.”
Despite the limited options under the closed park rules, the team will analyze the set-up data overnight to recover the balance of Saturday's sessions.
Heavy rain is forecast for both the Sprint and Qualifying, which could restart the field and potentially play into Max Verstappen's hands. For now, though, the Dutchman faces an uphill climb to Interlagos, hoping Red Bull can improve before the lights go out.
Edited by Hitesh Nigam
