An angry Max Verstappen outburst during qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix left Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok with no choice but to immediately apologise to the broadcaster’s viewers, in what was a woeful session for the reigning World Champion.
Verstappen will provisionally start the Singapore GP from 11th on the grid, after the Dutchman was embarrassingly eliminated in Q2, as was team-mate Sergio Perez.
The Red Bull driver was dumped out of the top-10 by none other than AlphaTauri driver Liam Lawson, in what was only the Kiwi’s third qualifying appearance.
Verstappen has struggled all weekend at the Marina Bay Circuit and was left absolutely furious with his side, in what was a shocking display by the Milton Keynes-based team.
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Despite having won all 14 races this season, the RB19 hasn’t looked comfortable in Singapore, with Verstappen’s front end having kept sliding out on him.
Even escaping Q1 was a challenge for Verstappen, who was caught up in a huge traffic jam ahead of the final two corners.
He was informed by his race engineer to remain calm, although Verstappen failed to do so.
“There are so many f***ing cars,” complained the Dutchman over the radio, as he prepared for his final lap in Q1.
When Verstappen’s radio message was played initially, his poor language was censored; however, when Chandhok replayed Verstappen’s message on the Sky pad, it was played in full.
The ex-F1 driver immediately recognised that the explicit word had been played to Sky’s viewers, resulting in a swift apology.
Commentator David Croft apologised again for Verstappen’s language a few minutes later, given that it wasn’t supposed to be heard.
Had it not been for a red flag at the death of Q1, Verstappen could’ve been dumped out of qualifying in the opening phase.
READ: Red Bull and Max Verstappen accused of ‘playing games’
Lance Stroll had a huge high-speed crash at the final corner, which he thankfully walked away from.
Stroll’s crash meant only a handful of drivers completed their final Q1 lap, with Oscar Piastri having not been one of them.
Piastri was the biggest surprise amongst those eliminated in Q1, given that he would’ve been comfortably safe if he’d finished his lap.