Reigning Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen didn’t hold back when reflecting on his underwhelming performance during last week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Red Bull star admitted he knew his RB20 was "f***ed" from the moment he hit the track.
The Dutchman was out-qualified by team-mate Sergio Perez for the first time in 33 races, trailing the Mexican by two-tenths of a second in what turned out to be a frustrating weekend for the championship leader.
Speaking candidly in Thursday's press conference ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, Verstappen revealed that a different set-up on his car left him at a disadvantage before the session even began.
Max Verstappen has since been punished for language used during the press conference
When questioned over the gap he suffered to Perez before his team-mate was taken out by a high-speed crash, Verstappen said: "I don't know, man. Different set-up. So as soon as I went into qualifying, I knew the car was f***ed,"
"I tried to optimise the car all the time and this time it didn’t work out. So I knew that I was stuck with it.”
Verstappen, who finished P5 at Baku, went on to detail how nothing seemed to go his away throughout the weekend.
The Dutchman struggled to challenge the frontrunners in Azerbaijan
“Of course, my run one in Q3 that would have been enough for P3 in qualifying hurt me. And you start in the back of the top group,” he explained.
“The balance was, of course, not there in the race. Then you get stuck behind two cars in the middle of the race. So you kill your tyres.
“So basically everything just went wrong from qualifying.”
Verstappen’s frustrations were compounded by the fact that the parc fermé regulations left him unable to make any changes to the car after the disastrous qualifying session last weekend.
“The rules, of course, don’t allow you to change anything on the car. You’re stuck with it, and that’s what happened,” he added.
As the championship fight heats up, Verstappen’s unfiltered response has only added to the intrigue surrounding the battle between himself and McLaren's Lando Norris.
Whether the Briton can continue to capitalise on Verstappen’s rare missteps remains to be seen, but the reigning champion will undoubtedly be looking to regain his dominant form this weekend in Singapore.
GP CANADA
7 - 9 Jun
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21 - 23 Jun
GP AUSTRIA
28 - 30 Jun
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5 - 7 Jul
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19 - 21 Jul
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26 - 28 Jul
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18 - 20 Oct
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25 - 27 Oct
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1 - 3 Nov
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29 Nov - 1 Dec
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6 - 8 Dec
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