Max Verstappen suffers shock Brazil Q1 exit with Red Bull ‘all at sea’

Red Bull suffered an extremely disappointing qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, which saw Max Verstappen drop out in Q1, a shock elimination. 

With Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda also failing to make the Q2 cut, it was a double elimination for the Milton Keynes-based squad, one which has left Verstappen with a mountain to climb if he is to rescue his World Championship hopes.

Max Verstappen out in Q1 at Brazilian Grand Prix

Verstappen was able to recover to fourth in the Brazilian Grand Prix Sprint earlier in the day, having qualified a disappointing sixth. But, that feeling paled in comparison to what was to come.

Heading into their final Q1 laps, both Tsunoda and Verstappen were left needing a better time to make Q2. Neither could manage it.

Max’s father Jos Verstappen immediately left the Red Bull garage following that shock result. It marked Verstappen’s first Q1 elimination since Russia 2021. He will start the Grand Prix from 16th.

Sky F1 lead commentator David Croft described Red Bull as “all at sea, losing both cars in Q1.”

Martin Brundle, reacting live alongside Croft in the commentary box, added: “Critical for Red Bull’s championship as well, in the fight with Mercedes and Ferrari.”

Verstappen has won three of his last six grands prix, never finishing lower than third throughout, which has brought Red Bull back into the hunt for second in the Constructors’ Championship.

The gap to Mercedes in that P2 spot is 17 points ahead of the race. Red Bull now faces a critical recovery mission to stay in that fight, the same true for Verstappen’s diminishing hopes of a fifth consecutive Drivers’ Championship.

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“But that’s a shocker,” said Brundle as he returned to Verstappen’s Q1 exit. “Verstappen with no pace at all, and totally unusually for him, no clue as to what he really wanted.

“Whatever they’ve done with the setup of the car has taken it in the wrong direction.”

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