“Unacceptable man. Unacceptable, these downshifts. Max Verstappen’s radio tirade during Friday’s opening practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix showed recurring issues continue to plague his RB22. Although the Dutchman finished third in both FP1 and FP2, it wasn’t the smoothest day for him as he continued to struggle with his downshifts, which has been a recurring problem this season. He also reported heavy steering on the RB22, referring to it as a “workout”, and ultimately ended the second session slightly early because of it.”
Red Bull to Implement Changes for Verstappen
Asked whether Red Bull had resolved the steering troubles, Head of Race Strategy Hannah Schmitz responded: I think we’ll have a different wheel for the rest of the weekend, and we’re looking into quite a few changes on Max’s side. There are a number of things that he was unhappy with, but we know what they all are, and they’re all things that we can work on and improve.
Schmitz admitted that Verstappen’s concerns help to unlock extra performance. I think there is a lot of performance to gain, and obviously, in terms of lap times, we’re still pretty competitive up there with everybody else,
she said. So, given there’s still quite a lot of potential in the car, that looks optimistic for the rest of the weekend.
Verstappen’s Downshift Complaints Explained
Over the team radio, a complaint emerged that is often heard from the four-time world champion: a less-than-ideal feeling during downshifts. Unacceptable man. Unacceptable, these downshifts. What the f***!
, Verstappen told race engineer Tom Hart during the opening practice session. Hart is once again standing in for Gianpiero Lambiase this weekend as the pair continue to develop their working relationship for the future. Verstappen explained that such radio messages are mainly down to his perfectionism and are intended to keep the team on its toes. With the shifts or whatever that you hear me complain about, it’s just because I’m never satisfied, because I think certain things can always be better. I always try to fine-tune or find improvements. … if you hear it as complaining or whatever, it’s more for me to make sure that the team is always looking into the details to try and find more lap time because I know there is more lap time in it.
Halfway through the session, it's P3 for Max and P8 for Isack 💙#F1 || #BrazilGP 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/3Rw06Aq54X
Verstappen Jokes About Clutch During FP2
In FP2, Verstappen’s complaints took a humorous turn. When facing issues with the power unit, his engineer told him, They are adapting to you.
Verstappen replied, What does that mean? I have to speak to the engine myself?
Before jokingly threatening his clutch in a funny voice: I think I should be like ‘Oh, clutch, I’m switching! You’ll be punished otherwise.
He eventually finished third again, 0.259s behind Kimi Antonelli. His long run was cut short because Red Bull couldn’t gather the data properly. We were just finding a lot of inconsistency in the long run, and we didn’t feel like it was helpful anymore,
Schmitz said. The unpredictable weather also looms large, with heavy rain forecast for Saturday. It looks like it’s a very heavy rain front. So whether Qualifying will actually happen at the scheduled time, I guess, is what we will find out a bit more about tomorrow,
Schmitz summarised. We’ll be prepared for all eventualities.
I was not very happy,
the Frenchman said. I thought there was free lap time in the balance. We went in one direction and it didn’t work. So, work in progress.
Verstappen wasn’t alone in the radio issues, though.
Antonelli leads from Norris and Verstappen in second practice Full FP2 report 👉 https://t.co/Fgt4wekdS6#F1 #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/6Ah5iWEZnp
