Verstappen Demands Improvement from Red Bull After Canadian GP Qualifying

Max Verstappen, the reigning Formula One world champion, has expressed his dissatisfaction with Red Bull's performance after qualifying second behind George Russell of Mercedes for the Canadian Grand Prix. Verstappen, who has won three world championships and last year's race from pole position, believes that rival teams have caught up to Red Bull and that the team needs to respond immediately.

Verstappen has been defeated in two of the last three races, and his aura of invincibility has been eroded. He stated that he was not concerned about being beaten by Russell, even though they had identical lap times, because the Briton set his time first.

"No, I'm not worried by that," Verstappen said. "And probably I should be pleasantly surprised to be on the front row in a way, but we lacked pace. The time Mercedes did in FP3 - that is not possible for us. Not really. And we have had a messy weekend. We need to tidy up and we need to improve our car too."

Verstappen emphasized the importance of tire management in the race, especially in the event of rain. He acknowledged that Red Bull has a lot of work to do and that the circuit is not the easiest for them.

"There will be more rain tomorrow and then it will be all about how the tires hold up in the race - and whoever is best at that wins," Verstappen said. "So we have got a lot of work to do and it is not the easiest circuit for us here. But our target has to be that we are good everywhere."

Sergio Perez, Verstappen's teammate, who recently signed an extended contract, described qualifying as a "disaster" after failing to progress beyond Q1 for the second consecutive race.

"It was a total disaster as I just couldn't get the grip," Perez said. "The issue was mainly the rear end of the car, the rear axle. It felt a lot worse and I couldn't get the tires switched on."

Perez qualified 16th and faces a challenging race on Sunday if he hopes to score points for the team.

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