Brundle hears 'petulant' Verstappen: 'That's why I love him'

Even though Max Verstappen can hardly lose the world title anymore and has won 10 Grands Prix in a row, he remains hugely competitive. When upshifting during the third free practice session does not go the way it should, Verstappen makes it totally clear to everybody. Over the radio, for example, the Dutchman said this was 'totally unacceptable'.

Martin Brundle listened to it all with a smile. "I love that about Max. It sounds petulant. We know he runs off a very short fuse. Despite all the victories in the last two seasons, it really hurts him that he knows he's struggling and clearly the car is not particularly gripped up well. That's amplified with the poor shift quality," the pundit told Sky Sports.

Brundle certainly does not want to condemn Verstappen regarding his plain speaking. It is precisely the best who react this way, the former F1 driver believes. "All of a sudden it goes from 'a rocketship thank you guys' to 'unacceptable, sort this out'. But that's why he's a multiple champion."

Christian Horner already expressed his confidence that the gearshift problems would be resolved before the start of qualifying. The Red Bull Racing team boss did add that every effort will have to be made to get on the front row of the grid for Sunday.