F1 Canada: Max Verstappen's new Red Bull low sees him blaming the pedals

Verstappen in Red Bull F1 hat looking annoyed in front of Canadian GP F1 themed red and white track background — Photo: © IMAGO

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Max Verstappen's new Red Bull low sees him blaming the pedals at Canadian Grand Prix

Verstappen had an unusual issue in Montreal

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Saturday 23 May 2026 01:50

It's really not Max Verstappen's year at the moment as fresh from his Mercedes car breaking down at the Nurburgring 24 hour race while in the lead, he runs into instant trouble on his Formula 1 return.

Verstappen has yet to score a podium in F1 this season, with this Red Bull car struggling to be competitive with regular front runners Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari.

Any hopes of the four-time world champion getting back to the front at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix though took an unusual blow in sprint qualifying at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal.

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The Dutchman could only line up seventh place for Saturday's sprint race and half-a-second down on pole sitter George Russell, albeit still ahead of team-mate Isack Hadjar by a tenth.

Verstappen's slippy feet

Verstappen had looked quick in all sections of the track but not at the same. Unlike his usual high standards he was not consistent in putting a fast lap together.

However, in his post-session interview, the 28-year-old revealed the bizarre reason he couldn't get a full clean lap.

"My feeling in the car was not very good," he said.

"I was struggling a lot with the ride of the car. I couldn't put my foot down, my feet were flying off the pedals. It made it very difficult to be consistent.

"That is something we need to investigate. We are stuck with that for the sprint. Hopefully it will be better for qualifying."