Max Verstappen’s British Grand Prix ended in frustration and anger after the Red Bull driver retired following another rear wing issue. The Dutchman did not hold back in his criticism of the team, describing the repeated failures as dangerous and admitting he wanted nothing to do with Red Bull immediately after the race.
Retirement and frustration at Silverstone
The British Grand Prix came to a bitter end for Max Verstappen. Benefiting from the problems suffered by the Mercedes drivers, the Dutchman had fought his way into podium contention before spinning off into the gravel at Stowe Corner with just six laps remaining.
However, the incident was not caused by driver error. Just as had happened during qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, Verstappen’s race was compromised by a problem with the rear wing failing to close properly on the RB22.
The four-time world champion immediately vented his frustration over team radio before dramatically throwing the steering wheel aside as he climbed out of the car. Speaking afterwards to Dutch broadcaster Viaplay, Verstappen explained what had happened and aimed a sarcastic swipe at his team.
“What happened? The same thing as in Austria: the rear wing didn’t close completely. Had the team found a solution? It was a different problem. Different problem, same result.”
“It’s becoming dangerous”
Max Verstappen made it clear that his frustration extended far beyond the retirement itself: “If it happens once, fine, these things can happen. But when it happens twice, it starts becoming dangerous for me,” the Dutchman said, referring to the second rear wing-related incident in just two race weekends.
The rear wing issue was not the only source of tension between Max Verstappen and Red Bull throughout the Silverstone weekend. The Dutch driver also revealed he had wanted to change the car’s setup and start the race from the pit lane, but the team refused.
“You’ll have to ask the team why they made that decision. I would have preferred to start from the pit lane because I had exactly the same problems in the race. The team explained their decision, and I replied, ‘You’ll see, the same thing will happen again during the race.’ And that’s exactly what happened.”
“We didn’t deserve the podium”
When it was suggested that he could still have finished third without the retirement, Verstappen dismissed the idea: “Well, that was also because of the penalties, the Safety Cars and the Virtual Safety Cars. Even if we had finished third, we wouldn’t have deserved that podium at all.”
Verstappen ended his post-race comments with perhaps his strongest statement yet, underlining the growing tension inside Red Bull.
“Talk to the team? To be honest, right now I don’t want anything to do with them.”
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