"Max Verstappen please leave this team omg": Fans react to the Red Bull driver's disastrous qualifying in the F1 Hungarian GP

Max Verstappen qualified eighth for the Hungarian GP, which came as a big blow for the Dutchman's camp. Soon after his final qualifying lap, fans shared their frustration with the Milton Keynes-based squad and urged the reigning champion to leave the team.

The 27-year-old had been at the center of the driver transfer rumors as he was heavily linked with a move to Mercedes. However, ahead of the Hungarian GP weekend, he addressed the rumors and put an end to such speculation by claiming that he will stay with Red Bull for the next year.

While his statement would have provided Red Bull's personnel at the Hungarian GP a confidence boost, this did not translate into the RB21 being easier to drive for Verstappen. On the other hand, the team's attempts at resolving the Dutchman's issues led nowhere as he had made an expletive radio call during the final practice session, lamenting the car's drivability.

"Yeah, you try to fix the rear and then it goes into understeer. F**k sake.”

This issue continued into the qualifying session, where the four-time champion was slated to be trailing the McLaren duo but found himself in the lower third of the top-10. He was even outqualified by Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, which enraged fans, leading them to urge Verstappen to leave the wailing team.

One fan wrote:

"Max please leave this team omg 😭🙏." "What are you guys doing!!! Without Max this team was out in Q1 or Q2 every race weekend!" one fan wrote. "Free Max from his contract immediately, he doesn’t deserve this," another fan wrote.

Fans were infuriated with the RB20's torrid performance and continued their criticism:

"There are not enough words to describe how terrible that car is!!!!!" one netizen wrote. "Sh*t tractor. Getting worse each weekend," another netizen wrote. "Really lovely to see the car being in such a great state right after Max commits his future to the team 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻," a third netizen wrote.

Max Verstappen was only ahead of Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar in the Q3 session.

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Max Verstappen was left dejected after a subpar qualifying performance

Max Verstappen at the qualifying for the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen has previously won the Hungarian GP from tenth on the grid; however, it was a different time as that Grand Prix took place in 2022. Red Bull had a strong car fighting for race wins every weekend, which, combined with the Dutchman's racecraft, allowed him to claim the race victory.

With the RB21's dismal pace during the Hungarian GP weekend, it is expected that Verstappen will have a tough time moving up the grid. Perhaps, the 27-year-old had a moment of realization as he was left nodding his head in disapproval of the lap time he posted on his final run.

Meanwhile, Verstappen's teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, was ousted in Q1. So the reigning drivers' champion will be the sole Red Bull in the top-10 for the race on Sunday.

Edited by Tushar Bahl