Verstappen renews threat to walk away from F1 after bitter Canada qualifying

The Dutchman repeatedly voiced his frustration over the radio throughout various stages of the session, while his teammate had looked far more competitive, even topping Q2 before eventually finishing just behind Verstappen in the final classification. Despite beating Hadjar, however, Verstappen still ended qualifying three tenths adrift of pole position.

Speaking to GPBlog among other media after qualifying, Verstappen was reminded of the comments he had recently made regarding his long-term Formula 1 future. In an interview with De Telegraaf, the Dutchman had previously stated that he fully expected to still be racing in F1 in 2027 unless something completely unforeseen were to happen, while also expressing confidence that all parties involved would stick to their commitments moving forward: "Yes, definitely. Unless some really crazy things happen, but I don’t expect that. I hope everyone keeps their word. But I can confirm that I’ll stay in Formula 1.”

Verstappen nevertheless admitted that, if the current situation were to continue unchanged into next year, he could begin reconsidering his future, stressing that competing under such conditions for another full season would be mentally unsustainable for him: “If it stays like this, it's going to be a long year next year, which I don't want. I can tell you if it stays like this, then let's see. It's just mentally not doable for me to stay like this. It's really not.”

He also acknowledged that stepping away from Formula 1 would be a major decision, but hinted that there are many other categories and challenges outside the sport that he would still enjoy pursuing: “There's a lot of other fun things out there. Let's stay on the positive side. We're still, I think, looking towards making those changes and of course some people that at the moment maybe have a bit of an advantage will try to be difficult about it. But if the FIA is strong and also from the FOM side, they just need to do it.”

Verstappen admitted he had been left confused by the behaviour of his RB22 throughout qualifying, revealing that the car became progressively slower on the straights with every lap he completed. While he was still able to claw back some time through the corners, the gains were consistently wiped out by the losses on the straights, preventing him from putting together a truly competitive lap.

The Dutchman also suggested there was uncertainty within the team itself regarding the root of the issue, explaining that he repeatedly questioned what was happening over the radio but received very little meaningful feedback in return. He acknowledged that changes made to improve the car over the kerbs and bumps had come at the expense of downforce, ultimately leaving the RB22 trapped in an ineffective compromise.

He further hinted at differing opinions within his side of the garage over setup direction, suggesting Red Bull continued to pursue an approach he already believed would not work based on previous experience, despite the team remaining convinced it was the correct path to follow.