Verstappen spoke after qualifying in Japan and gave a hot diagnosis of what's happening inside Red Bull. He didn't hold back and described with rawness the feelings the RB22 left him with after being eliminated in Q2.
The season hasn't started the way Verstappen would have wanted. In Australia, a crash in qualifying condemned him to fight from the back, and in China a mechanical issue left him out before the start. But in Japan, the problem was the car itself. The driver explained that he had no grip throughout qualifying, that they made changes for the session but there was no balance either at corner entry or mid corner. Far from stopping there, Max confessed the feeling behind the wheel was so bad he used a word that says it all: unpredictable.
"It was sliding a lot and there was a lot of understeer in the middle of the corner. Basically, it was unpredictable," he said after getting out of the car, and what's most concerning is that it wasn't a one day issue. The Dutchman said they've been experiencing it throughout the whole weekend. They thought the situation had improved a bit in third practice, at least the car was a bit more predictable, but when qualifying came it got worse again and they were left without answers.
Balance is one of the most difficult aspects to achieve in today's Formula 1, especially with the new regulations that completely changed the way cars generate downforce. A car that slides a lot on corner entry forces you to brake earlier.
One that has understeer in the middle prevents you from accelerating when you should. And when all of that combines, the driver loses confidence and lap times go well above expectations. Max felt it firsthand.
What hurts the Dutchman most is that after so many years of dominating, Red Bull today seems unable to find a solution for the car. The departure of key figures like Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley left a void that still hasn't been filled, and the team that built the winningest machine of the last decade now faces a problem they don't know how to solve. Verstappen summed it up with a phrase that sounds like a warning: "if they continue like this, the season is going to be extremely long."
The technical issue is complex because there's no magic solution. What Red Bull needs is to understand why the car behaves that way and find a way to give Verstappen the confidence he needs to attack corners without thinking the car is going to slip away from him. In the meantime, the Dutchman will have to endure a qualifying where he was eliminated in Q2, a result that for a four time champion is a hard blow.
Verstappen had already criticized the new regulations before the season started, but now the problem is more concrete: his car isn't working as it should. His words after qualifying at Suzuka were a direct message to his team. Frustration is building, and patience for a driver of his caliber isn't infinite. What matters most is that Red Bull needs answers fast, because if the car remains unpredictable, the comeback will become increasingly uphill.