Max Verstappen fumes at 'quite poor' Red Bull at Brazilian GP as 'no chance' verdict given

Max Verstappen lamented the "terrible" feeling he had in his Red Bull car on Friday as he failed to make much of an impression in Sprint qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The Dutchman was only sixth fastest having spent much of his time on track complaining about how much he did not like how his car felt.

Regardless, he was able to match the pace of championship leader Lando Norris, who secured pole position, in the first and last sectors of the Interlagos circuit. But in the tight and twisty middle sector he lost so much time and had to settle for a place on the third row of the grid for the start of Saturday's short-form race.

Speaking afterwards, Verstappen made it clear he does not even think the potentially heavy rain and high winds forecast for Sao Paulo on Saturday will help him much. He said: "A lot of vibration in the car and a lot of ride problems, so not what we want. Besides that, we just don't have the grip in the middle sector, it's terrible.

"I struggle to get the car to turn and, at the same time, I can't really rely on the rears. For us it's quite poor, I would say, but it is what it is. It's quite clear that we are lacking something and I don't expect to suddenly be miles better in the wet. We'll see tomorrow."

Reacting to what he had seen from the Red Bull garage, team adviser Helmut Marko offered a grim prediction for Verstappen's chances on Saturday unless the heavens do open. Asked if he believes the four-time world champion can make it to the podium positions in the Sprint, the Austrian replied: "It must rain. Otherwise, no chance."

He went on to add that, although Red Bull will hope to make the car more competitive for Saturday's qualifying and the main Grand Prix, their only hope of achieving anything in the Sprint will be if Verstappen can pull off something special. He said: "We hope for Max - he has to make the difference.

"In sectors one and three we are hundredths away from Norris, and in the middle sector with the most corners there is basically no grip, which means we don't have enough downforce and that is something we cannot cure for the Sprint race. Hopefully, over the weekend we can adapt and make it more competitive for the main race."

Norris put himself in a strong position for maximum points in the Sprint, while team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri will start third. They were split by Kimi Antonelli who produced one of his best qualifying laps in F1 to date to put his Mercedes on the front row alongside the Brit.