Max Verstappen gave his Red Bull team an extraordinary snub after their woeful performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The four-time world champion spent most of Sunday’s race delivering frustrated team radio messages to his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, with Verstappen complaining about their poor grip and lack of pace on the hard tyres.
Red Bull also fumbled both of Verstappen’s pit stops, with his second taking over six seconds after his front right tyre refused to be removed from his RB21.
In a post-race interview with Viaplay, Verstappen was asked to talk about the team following their difficult outing, but the champion clapped back and said: “At the moment no, I don’t feel like it.”
Verstappen not happy with Red Bull after Bahrain GP
Verstappen finished the Bahrain Grand Prix in sixth below both Ferraris and McLarens, and the result has dealt a huge blow to his championship chances.
Oscar Piastri’s dominant victory saw him climb above Verstappen to second in the championship, where he now has 74 points and is only three points behind team-mate Lando Norris.
Meanwhile, Verstappen is eight points off Norris, but George Russell has the champion well within his sights after avoiding a penalty and finishing second, meaning he is just six points behind the Dutchman in the standings.
Speaking to the English media after the race, Verstappen reflected further on the race where he claimed ‘everything went wrong’ and surmmarised: “We had a poor start, too much wheelspin when I dropped the clutch, and then the first stint again.
"Basically the same problems that I had in Qualifying, plus we were just overheating our tyres too much compared to the competition ahead of us.”