Max Verstappen couldn’t hide his frustration after a qualifying session to forget at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Dutch driver, usually a regular at the front of the Formula 1 grid, will start from seventh position, far behind the pole-sitter Oscar Piastri. A braking issue with his car completely compromised his performance, leaving Red Bull with more questions than answers just hours before the race.

From the start of the weekend, McLaren set the pace, and although Verstappen was expected to challenge, a technical fault pushed him far from the front runners. "It was like crashing into a wall every time I hit the brakes," said the three-time world champion, visibly upset, referring to the braking system issues.

Red Bull and Verstappen's major concern

The team’s advisor, Helmut Marko, confirmed after the session that it was a “massive issue” with Verstappen’s car, although the origin is still unknown. “The data shows it clearly, but we don’t know why it happened. We made some changes thinking they would be improvements, but it turned out the opposite,” he explained. The issue only affected the Dutchman's car, while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda managed to qualify in the top ten without major issues.

Marko stated that without the braking problem, Verstappen could have fought for a podium spot: “He probably would’ve been third or fourth,” he said. Even so, he valued the fact that both cars made it into the Top 10, considering the circumstances.

For his part, Verstappen was candid: “It’s been a tough weekend. The car doesn’t turn, doesn’t brake, doesn’t respond. We’ve tried all sorts of setups and nothing worked.” He also noted that this isn’t a new issue: “I’ve been feeling it since the start of the year, but on this track, it’s much more noticeable.”

With the championship extremely close and just one point behind Lando Norris —the current leader—, this poor qualifying result could be a major blow to his title hopes. Still, the Dutchman remains hopeful and has a strategy up his sleeve: he saved an extra set of hard tires for the race. “I don’t know how they’ll perform, but it’s an option. We’ll see what we can do with it,” he concluded.

Sunday’s race promises excitement, and all eyes will be on whether Red Bull can turn things around and help their star driver make up ground.