Max Verstappen and Red Bull chief Laurent Mekies were involved in an awkward back-and-forth over the team radio following the driver's spin at the Hungarian GP qualifying. The Frenchman tried to console his star driver, but Verstappen once again reiterated that the car was "undriveable."

Verstappen spun out on the final turn on his final flying lap during Q3 on Saturday at the Hungaroring, following which the 28-year-old blamed the car for the incident. He once again lashed out at the team over the team radio, saying that the whole weekend in Budapest has been a disappointment and that the car is "broken aerodynamically."

Following this, there was also a tense moment between Verstappen and Red Bull Racing CEO and team principal Laurent Mekies over the team radio, as the driver also made his feelings known to the boss.

Trying to console Verstappen, Mekies came over the team radio and said:

"Super difficult out there Max. We know what you're feeling, we'll try to fix what we can fix tomorrow."

Verstappen then replied to this message, saying:

"I'm sorry, but for me, it's just completely undriveable. It's really, really bad."

This moment comes amid uncertainty over Max Verstappen's future at Red Bull Racing. The relationship between the driver's camp and the team is already said to be strained, according to numerous reports, with him leaving the team in 2026 a real possibility.

The 4x world champion does reportedly have a release clause in his contract, which otherwise runs until 2028, allowing him to leave this year as he is outside the top two in the drivers' standings at the summer break. A clearer picture of his future is expected to emerge over the month-long break.

Max Verstappen explained that he struggled with the rear of his car in the moment that caused his spin during the F1 Hungarian GP qualifying. He also expressed his frustration about struggling with different problems at every race weekend, which makes trying to correct any issues even harder.

Speaking about his spin in the media on Saturday, Verstappen said:

Max Verstappen also said that his RB22 suffers from "car degradation" rather than tyre degradation in a damning assessment of the 2026 Red Bull machine.

Quick Links