Max Verstappen left "beyond frustrated" after his Q2 exit at Suzuka

Verstappen eliminated in Q2 after sudden loss of confidence

Max Verstappen’s Japanese Grand Prix qualifying unravelled in dramatic fashion as the Red Bull driver was knocked out in Q2, describing his RB22 as "completely undriveable".

Although Verstappen found another tenth on his final attempt, it proved insufficient. A late surge from Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad — who improved by six tenths — vaulted him into 10th and pushed Verstappen into the drop zone. The Dutchman will start Sunday’s race from 11th on the grid.

"Completely undriveable" RB22

"I think there is something wrong with the car mate, it’s completely undriveable suddenly in this qualifying," he told race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. "Jumping on high speed in the rear suddenly."

The issues appeared to intensify as qualifying progressed. Despite set-up changes made throughout the weekend — including what he described as a tweak that was “not that big” — Verstappen said the car’s behaviour deteriorated further compared to final practice.

“We made changes all weekend, but at the same time we also have some problems in the car that we're trying to fix, and I guess it was worse again in qualifying compared to FP3,” he explained.

The underlying problem, he suggested, is rooted in the chassis rather than the power unit.

“As soon as you really tried to push, for me it was just all over the place. Really not good, and also really doesn't give you confidence to attack any corner. For me, I was just stuck, I couldn't push more.”

He added: “From the car side I think we are really struggling at the moment.”

A weekend trending backwards

Red Bull’s broader qualifying picture offered little reassurance. Hadjar progressed to Q3 but was outqualified by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly by three tenths — a stark contrast to Melbourne, where the team’s French driver qualified third at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Verstappen acknowledged that the performance swing is difficult to explain.

“We can see that Melbourne was better, and then somehow some things happened with the car while not even having touched the car, so that is always a big problem,” he said.

At a circuit he openly enjoys, the disconnect between driver and machinery appeared particularly stark.

“I mean, I'm not even frustrated anymore, you know, I'm beyond that,” Verstappen admitted. “I don't know what to make of it, to be honest. I don't get upset about it, I don't get disappointed or frustrated by it anymore with what's going on.”

Searching for answers

For now, Verstappen can only look ahead to incremental fixes.

“For sure we'll fix a few things, hopefully in the coming weeks, months,” he said.

But at Suzuka, the immediate reality is clear: a car lacking balance, confidence and consistency has left Red Bull’s lead driver outside the top 10 — and searching for solutions rather than pole positions.