“Still too slow”: Max Verstappen disappointed with Red Bull’s F1 challenger after Hungarian GP qualifying

Max Verstappen was vocal about Red Bull's performance at the Hungarian GP qualifying. The defending champion who qualified in P3 revealed that his RB20 was "still too slow" after he failed to qualify for the pole, and make it to the front row, at least.

Verstappen clocked 1:15.273 on the timesheet as he failed to beat Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's times. His final flying lap was four-hundredths slower than Norris, the pole sitter, and two-hundredths slower than Piastri.

After the British GP, the Dutchman was once again in the second row, as the upgrades to his RB20 reportedly did not work according to its potential. Speaking about this, Max Verstappen said in the post-qualifying interview:

"It was alright, but not good enough. The whole weekend has just been a little bit too slow. We tried to optimize everything, tried quite a few things with the car. At the end, still too slow. So, yeah, it is what it is. The upgrades are definitely working, but we are still not the first, right? So we need more. It's as simple as that."

"I was very happy with the laps but balance wise, everything is really on the edge. I'm pushing as hard as I can and then you have little moments here and there. I feel like I probably push harder than I did last year but it's just not coming anymore to have these great lap times."

Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez, however, had a qualifying to forget. The Mexican driver, who is already at risk of losing his Red Bull seat, crashed his RB20 into the wall during Q1. He is set to start tomorrow's race from P16.

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Max Verstappen unhappy with Red Bull's current condition

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing walks into the garage during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on July 20, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Max Verstappen made a strong statement ahead of Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix race about Red Bull's current condition. The three-time world champion stated that the Austrian team is currently "chasing" amid McLaren's scintillating resurgence.

"I love competition, but I would like to be on top of the competition," Verstappen said (via F1). "At the moment we are chasing... but I don't back out of a fight."

Zak Brown's McLaren have been the fastest team in F1 for weeks now. With the Hungarian GP pole, Papayas have made it two pole positions this season so far.

At this pace, they can displace Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship this week, and hunt one-legged Red Bull [because of Sergio Perez's recent failures] in the upcoming races.

McLaren are currently in P3 in the Championship with 295 points while Ferrari are in P2 with 302 points, and Red Bull in P1 with 373 points.