‘Incredibly messy’ – Max Verstappen slams OWN Red Bull team for making things ‘super difficult’ ahead of Miami GP
MAX VERSTAPPEN hit out at his own Red Bull team for making things "super difficult" ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
The F1 World Champion admitted it had been an "incredibly messy" weekend, with the team's misfortunes topped off with Verstappen's botched final lap in qualifying.
He will start third in Sunday's race behind the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who locked out the front row.
Verstappen will need to reel in title rival Leclerc if he is to close the 27-point deficit between them in the Driver's Championship.
But it's been a frustrating weekend so far for the 24-year-old, with his practice sessions disrupted for various reasons, including his brakes catching fire in second practice.
When asked how he will approach the beginning of the race, the Dutchman said: "I haven't seen any other starts and I honestly cannot tell you because I haven't done a start on the left side or on the right-hand side, so … yeah.
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"I mean, that just sums up my weekend: it's just been incredibly messy. We just make it super difficult for ourselves.
"Basically no… well, four or five laps yesterday, then you start today still learning the track, try to find a setup because yesterday you have no clue what, of course, works, because there’s not really a lot of data to look at.
"And I'm of course still pleased to be in third position and actually be very close to the guys next to me.
"But yeah, I think we can do so much better by just actually operate a bit cleaner and smoother."
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Verstappen went wide during the tense fight for pole on his final flying lap, opening the door to Leclerc and Sainz.
During the initial laps in Q3, the three drivers were separated by only 0.080s, underlining just how close the title contenders are this season.
Verstappen won last time out in Imola – while Leclerc had a spin – and also took victory after a brilliant duel with the Monegasque in Saudi Arabia.
But Leclerc won the season opener in Bahrain and dominated down under, leaving it at two wins apiece.
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