Verstappen slams Red Bull car after rising from 21st to second in Brazil

Max Verstappen finished second in the Brazilian Grand Prix after starting 21st because of a grid penalty. Over the team radio after the finish, he said he had spent 85 per cent of the race in a car he considered awful. He acknowledged that second place was good, but said he had never experienced anything like it in either wet or dry conditions.

His complaints had begun earlier. After changing from intermediates to soft tyres at his first stop, Verstappen said the car was harder to handle through the fast corners. Race engineer Tom Hart linked that to reduced load on the rear axle; Verstappen said the problem went beyond that. At the second stop, mechanics removed six clicks from the front wing to reduce downforce for drier conditions, also reducing front-end grip as more rain approached late in the race.

After the final stop, Verstappen reported aggressive engine clipping, saying it was losing peak power at moments he did not expect. With seven laps remaining, he said he could barely steer through fast corners and thought Red Bull had botched the front wing again. Team principal Laurent Mekies praised him for taking second while wrestling with the car, and said he was sure Red Bull would find where the problem lay.