Verstappen frustrated by lack of speed

2015 Brazilian Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen revealed his frustration at being passed easily on the straight by more powerful cars during the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Toro Rosso driver repeatedly complained on the radio about problems with his power delivery during the race.

“Seriously we have to do something,” said Verstappen at one point. “We are clipping way too much.” Later he added: “It’s a [censored by FOM] joke, seriously.”

Afterwards Verstappen explained the reason for his complaints. “If you see the guys behind you so easy catching up on the straight you just get frustrated because the car is great through the corners,” he told reporters. “Unfortunately we lose a lot of straight-line speed.”

He managed to salvage a point for Toro Rosso after making multiple passes in the Senna S on rivals including Sergio Perez.

“It was the only chance to overtake for us,” said Verstappen. “It was very difficult to get them on the straight anyway, especially when you were in front, they were just flying by. Especially the Force India and the Lotus.”

“But I think tenth is the maximum we could do today. Of course it’s not what we want compared to Lotus but we have to be realistic.”

2015 Brazilian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    8 comments on “Verstappen frustrated by lack of speed”

    1. It’s a shame the Renault is so terrible. Looking forward to seeing this guy with a car that is not only good in the corners but also respectable on the straight.

      1. I bet Alondo would disagree and would take that Renault powered crap against his marvelous Honda :) They should know when to appreciate and keep quite, after all they have an F1 engine and not a GP2 :)

    2. While the other guys are probably saying, “Geez their aero is great, ours is a joke so no way to overtake in the twisty section, but just wait on the straight where we can use our advantage”.

      1. @patrickl well, yeah, but it’s on the straights were you are most likely to start an overtaking move. So I suppose it’s a lot more frustrating.

        It’s difficult to overtake anyway, and for cars to follow closely, but on the straights, where you should get closer by virtue of slipstream (and DRS), lacking straight line speed probably hurts a lot more.

        1. @fer-no65 I know, just find it ironic that they can pretend like their own advantage is fine, but if another driver has an advantage then it’s unfair.

          Besides, Verstappen had it quite easy following other drivers in the corners leading onto the straight and helped him being better on the brakes. So his better aero still did help him a lot in getting past a few cars. Even though he needed a clear tyres advantage to get it done still.

    3. Give him Rosberg’s seat.

      1. (@chaddy)
        Or Kimi’s.

        I’d love to see Vettel get humiliated again.

    4. Nothing wrong with a bit of character…
      The frustration comes from the fact they are not able to get it right or even allowed to test things to get it right.
      We are seeying this frustration with Riccardo (this race) and especially at Mc Laren ofcourse, it’s a constant trail and error, Mc Laren devoted a whole racing year to testing in the hope to get competitive in 2016.

      Aerodynamica is a different story, team are allowed to develope of the year, so in case of sauber they have a fair change of catching up (if they would have the money).

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