Verstappen talks to his clutch in hilarious conversation: 'Otherwise, you’ll be punished!'

Changing gears was once again on Verstappen’s mind on Friday at Interlagos. He had already complained about it at length during the first practice session. Despite setting the third-fastest time behind Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli, the Red Bull Racing driver was far from happy with the way his car was behaving. Downshifting, in particular, was particularly bothering him.

The subject came up again in his conversation with Hart during FP2. The race engineer told Verstappen there was no switch he could use to intervene himself.

He said: "We have nothing on the switch, but they are adapting to you."

The explanation drew a witty response from the cockpit. "Uh, what does that mean? I have to speak to the engine myself?" Verstappen asked.

Hart then assured Verstappen that things should improve. "So they should be getting better," the race engineer added.

Verstappen then took his suggestion a step further, imagining what a conversation with his car might sound like. "I think I should be like ‘Oh, clutch, I’m switching! You’ll be punished otherwise!’”

The exchange followed a first practice session in which Verstappen returned to the garage with several complaints. Besides the shifting, the steering also became a concern. The wheel became increasingly heavy during the session, making it harder to turn into corners. Verstappen described driving the car as a full-body workout.

Red Bull therefore had plenty of work to do between the two sessions. Verstappen’s fastest lap in FP1 was a 1:11.953, putting him 0.236 seconds behind Norris, who topped the first session.

Verstappen then finished second practice in third place once again, although the two drivers ahead of him, Norris and Kimi Antonelli, swapped positions. This time, the Italian topped the timesheets with a 1:10.763.

Verstappen was not in the car when the chequered flag fell in FP2. He got out with about five minutes left on the clock