Verstappen angry as traffic ruins chances of Portugal F1 pole
The Red Bull driver’s first lap time in Q3 was deleted following a track limits infringement at Turn 4 before his final effort was hampered by having to navigate past Norris’ McLaren and ending up behind Vettel’s Aston Martin at the final corner.
In the end, Verstappen’s lap was only good enough for third, almost 0.4s down on Valtteri Bottas’ pole time.
Verstappen made his frustrations clear in response to a message from race engineer Gianpiere Lambiase over team radio, asking: “Why do the guys not move? I’m on a fast lap! Fucking dickheads.”
Speaking immediately after qualifying, Verstappen explained how his final lap was ruined by the traffic.
“The whole qualifying was very difficult to drive, I was struggling a lot with the grip,” said Verstappen.
“That first lap in Q3 was decent, I just had a big moment in 4 so I went a little bit off track.
“I was quite confident we could do another good lap but in the last sector, the car in front in the last two corners, it just disturbs you, especially with the low grip we already have and the tough wind out there - it basically cost me a lot of lap time. It is what it is.”
