'S*** brakes, man, honestly. Useless': Max Verstappen's Extreme Frustration with His RB21 Became Known After Unheard Radio Conversation with Engineer Was Made Public

Max Verstappen missed out on a podium finish at the Miami Grand Prix despite starting from pole. The reigning world champion was overtaken by both the McLaren drivers and George Russell to eventually finish in 4th position.

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Max Verstappen Cuts Out Frustrated Figure While Battling Oscar Piastri

Lando Norris attempted to go past Verstappen in lap 1 itself but the McLaren driver was forced to take the precautionary measure to avoid a collision. Nevertheless, Norris finished runner-up to teammate Oscar Piastri. After taking over the Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the opening laps, Oscar Piastri managed to get into a position to take the lead over Verstappen.

Despite defending well, Verstappen was forced to commit a mistake by Piastri in the first corner. The Dutchman missed his braking point, giving impetus to Piastri to cut back through and take the lead. Verstappen could be heard expressing his frustration with his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase about a problem with his car. The unheard team radio messages brought forward the complete picture of the problems Verstappen was dealing with his RB21.

The problems began to pile up early in the race, with Verstappen voicing the issues to Lambiase, who was quick to respond with a quick fix over team radio while battling Piastri. 

Here are the excerpts of the conversation that transpired between Mx Verstappen and his engineer:

Verstappen: “S— brakes, man, honestly. Useless.

Lambaise: “We think you can manage plus one on the offset, Max.”

Verstappen: “That doesn’t work.”

Lambaise: “Max B-Bal 5 would be forward steep and rearwards late entry if you want to.

Verstappen: “It’s not biting and then locking through the apex.”

Lambaise: “OK, understood.”

Conversations like these disseminate the word that Max Verstappen is not happy and may leave Red Bull soon. However, paying heed to another aspect, one could note that despite facing the challenges, the 4-time F1 world champion is still lethal and in the reckoning to secure the 5th straight title.