Max Verstappen thinks Red Bull was handed a ‘rude awakening’ after he was outqualified by Gabriel Bortoleto in the Sauber for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Verstappen starts the race in eighth place, his worst start of the 2025 season, having lost out to Bortoleto by 0.003s in what became a difficult qualifying session for the Dutchman.

Both Red Bull drivers complained about rear instability with their cars, with Yuki Tsunoda suffering an early exit in Q1.

Verstappen was mystified over where the pace went for Red Bull, and told media that it was a “rude awakening” for the team, according to journalist Ronald Vording.


Photo by Gabriele Lanzo/Alessio Morgese/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Max Verstappen warns Red Bull after worst qualifying of 2025 season in Hungary

Red Bull have been off the pace all weekend, after failing to break into the top five during practice. While they usually find something overnight between Friday and Saturday, that has not been the case in Budapest.

Helmut Marko felt their performance improved as qualifying progressed, with the track temperatures dropping 15 degrees Centigrade between the start of the session and the end of Q2.

“According to Marko, things went better as qualifying progressed, but he also said that we don’t know why that was. Red Bull is very much looking for answers,” said Vording.

“Verstappen said: ‘Yes we have ideas but I don’t have to say them out loud. But that won’t save us this weekend anyway because today was a rude awakening.’”

Yuki Tsunoda suffers fourth Q1 exit of 2025 season at Red Bull

Things didn’t improve on the other side of the garage for Red Bull, with Tsunoda suffering a fourth straight exit in Q1 this season.

He will line up on the grid in 16th place, having suffered from the same problems as Verstappen, although his quickest lap was still within a tenth of the Dutchman’s.

New Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies handed Tsunoda one of Verstappen’s spare floors in Belgium, a move that never happened under Christian Horner.

Tsunoda’s form instantly improved as a result, although the Japanese driver is still trying to save his career at the team given that he is out of contract for 2026.