Max Verstappen was denied pole position after the first lap fight with Lewis Hamilton. He was spewing hate over the team radio, the “f***ing d***heads” who denied him pole position. In the aftermath, he even said that the track was not fit for Formula 1.
Red Bull’s Verstappen was already enraged over the lap deletion by the stewards for exceeding track limits during qualifying for the Portugal Grand Prix. He was later caught up in traffic as he tried in vain to beat Valtteri Bottas’ lap time for pole.
Verstappen was visibly distraught when TV cameras came around. The youngster was highly critical of Sebastian Vettel, saying, “F*** sake, why do these guys not move? I am on a fast lap. They are f***ing d***heads!”
This conversation over the team radio got supplemented moments later.
“I did not enjoy one single lap,” he said.
“It was not enjoyable to drive. If you look at the lap time (that was deleted) of course we could have had pole, but I don’t like to talk like that …should, would, could.
“I thought I could do the lap again but then lost all my time with an Aston Martin in front of me.
“I remember coming here to Portimao before the GP and it was in the top three of my favourite tracks and then they changed the tarmac. I don’t enjoy it anymore.”
McLaren denies any wrongdoing
Meanwhile, McLaren deflected all blame in its decision to tell Norris not to gift wrap a qualifying time to Verstappen.
“First of all, we have to make it clear, we drive for ourselves and not for anyone else. Our aim is to finish as high up as possible with our two cars,” team principal Andreas Seidl said.
“I guess it’s normal that, like everyone is doing, and Max was no different, you don’t want to give anyone a tow, because it’s a benefit for the other car.
“Qualifying is about doing the lap time yourself without the help of anyone else.
“You just tried to get out of the way, out of the slipstream, to make sure that everyone can do his lap himself, and without additional help.”
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