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Frustrated Verstappen exited early in Q3: "I didn't want to drive anymore"
- Nicole Mulder
Max Verstappen makes no secret of it: he is not happy with Red Bull Racing's updates. Performance should have improved for the Hungarian Grand Prix, but instead the Dutchman sees both McLarens starting ahead of him.
The moment he crossed the finish line in his second run in Q3 and saw that he was third behind Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, Verstappen banged his steering wheel out of frustration. At the post-qualifying press conference, he confronted the moment. " Am I not allowed to be frustrated?", Verstappen replied cynically. "That is indeed what happened."
For this reason, Verstappen stepped out before the end of Q3
Two minutes before the end of qualifying, Yuki Tsunoda caused a red flag. While the car was being towed away, it started to rain. Nevertheless, seven of the 10 drivers were waiting at the end of the pit lane to make another attempt. Verstappen and Fernando Alonso were among the drivers who did not.
In Alonso's case, he was told by Aston Martin to retire, but Verstappen made that choice himself. "No, I didn't want to drive anymore. I had no tyres. Those were gone, and so I would never be able to improve. So there was no point for me to wait in the pit lane," explained the reigning world champion.