Max Verstappen unleashes Red Bull fury

Max Verstappen frowning at the Japanese Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

Max Verstappen unleashes Red Bull fury

Max Verstappen was not happy during FP3

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 28 March 2026 18:05

F1 champion Max Verstappen unleashed his fury at the Red Bull during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, and did not mince his words.

Verstappen hasn't been able to launch a title campaign thus far in 2026, with the RB22 being plagued by reliability issues and a lack of pace in comparison to rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.

The Dutchman has only been able to claim eight points from two race weekends so far, and is already 43 points off the top of the championship.

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And any hopes that Red Bull would provide him with a quicker car for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix appeared to go out of the window in FP3 on Saturday morning.

Verstappen finished down in eighth in the session, and was left bemused by the performance of his RB22, namely the downshift problems that he was facing.

Lambiase then asked in response: "Give me the corner please, Max," to which Verstappen replied with a fiery: "Everywhere, everywhere is just s***!"

The downshifts were something that Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad also struggled with on Friday, suggesting that it could be a Red Bull power unit issue, with both cars using the new Red Bull-Ford engines.

Red Bull making up for lost time

Following the dismal opening two race weekends, Red Bull will have to be right on it in Japan to avoid their rivals opening up a significant gap on them in the standings.

Red Bull started off slowly in 2025, but Verstappen's ability to grind out results meant that he stayed within touching distance of his rivals before launching an end of season attack for the championship, finishing just two points behind Lando Norris in the end.

The Dutchman won the 2025 Japanese GP with a sublime drive, but that does not look like a possibility this year, with Red Bull clearly still struggling with their power unit.

The team have just 12 points between Verstappen and Isack Hadjar from the first two race weekends.

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Japanese Grand Prix