Max Verstappen Blames Severe Bouncing for P7 in Canadian GP Sprint Qualifying: ‘Feet Were Flying Off the Pedals’

Max Verstappen arrived at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve off the back of what felt like a turning point for Red Bull . The team had brought a considerable upgrade package to Miami, and Verstappen responded by putting the RB22 on the front row in qualifying – a result that suggested the car ‘s long-running problems might finally be coming under control. Montreal had other ideas.

Verstappen ended sprint qualifying seventh, 0. 539 seconds off George Russell ‘s pole-setting 1m12. 965s, with the young teammate Isack Hadjar locking out the fourth row alongside him in eighth.

The gap to the front wouldn’t have been the most alarming part for Red Bull – the car’s behaviour over the bumps at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve clearly was. Verstappen described the experience bluntly after the session: “Oh, the bumps. Couldn’t put my foot down.

Actually my feet were even flying off the pedals so yah, just made it very difficult to be consistent and that’s something that we need to investigate. ” During SQ1, Verstappen had radioed in to report his unhappiness with the car’s handling, citing what he described as “jumping” on the straights. It was a problem that clearly didn’t resolve itself across the three segments.