Max Verstappen says he doesn't "really understand" Red Bull's Formula 1 blunder in not sending him out in Singapore Grand Prix qualifying with enough fuel. In a damp/dry Q3, all 10 cars were filled with fuel for multiple timed laps instead of the usual one owing to the conditions. Verstappen's #1 Red Bull was given enough for five laps, but he started a sixth after abandoning his fifth and was on course for a pole position time. However, race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase ordered him to box to ensure he met the requirement for a one litre sample of fuel to be available for FIA checks. The penalty for not providing such a sample is a pit-lane start, with Red Bull figuring an eighth place slot and an angry driver was better than the pit-lane. Post-session, after some fruity language on the team radio, Verstappen says he could not understand how the mistake was allowed to happen.
Verstappen criticises Red Bull
"We got a little bit surprised that we had that extra lap, but you can track that, you see it coming," he explained to media including RacingNews365.com. "That's why I don't really understand how it was missed, and, of course, in hindsight, they should have let me finish the lap before where they told me to abort already to make a gap for the last lap. "All of this was also triggered by Pierre [Gasly going off at Turn 18] in front of me, so that's why I had to create a gap for that final lap, because I was getting close to him. But that's not an excuse. "I can't see how much fuel is in the car, but we have all the sensors in the world to track the these kind of things. [It's] incredibly frustrating, because I think we had a good car. And I think you could see that already in Q3 that the car was really good on slicks. "Of course, the conditions are tricky, but I liked that. The car was working quite well."
Verstappen defends radio outburst
After subjecting Lambiase to a colourful tirade, Verstappen explained that he liked the "critical approach" and was not afraid to tell the team when they had got it wrong. "I like the critical approach, because when I f*ck up, they can also tell me that you know? That I make a mistake," he said. "It should be the other way around as well, because that's how we keep each other heading into the right direction, because we want to be perfect -we don't want to be good - we want to be perfect. "I think they knew when they saw my face and what I said on the radio [that I was not happy.]"
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