Max Verstappen says he doesn’t “feel like” talking to his Red Bull team after a disastrous Bahrain Grand Prix weekend raised more doubts about his F1 future.

And he claimed that the RB21 car had “zero” pace on Sunday in Sakhir, with Verstappen describing the experience of running in last place at one stage as “very beautiful.”

Max Verstappen: Red Bull had ‘zero’ pace in Bahrain Grand Prix

Verstappen and Red Bull stand as one of the most successful driver/team partnerships in F1 history, with the Dutchman storming to four consecutive World Championships since 2021.

However, Verstappen faces a challenge to retain his title in F1 2025 after an underwhelming start to the new season.

After overcoming the car’s weaknesses to claim a stunning victory in Japan last weekend, Verstappen endured a frustrating weekend in Bahrain.

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After qualifying a distant seventh, six-tenths slower than the time for pole position set by McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, Verstappen suffered two slow pit stops over the course of the race.

An issue with Red Bull’s traffic light system saw Verstappen’s exit delayed at his first stop, with a sticky right-front wheel costing him further time during his second visit to the pits.

Verstappen rejoined from his second stop in 20th place, although he only briefly held last position as the rest of the pit-stop phase played out.

He eventually came home sixth, finishing more than 34 seconds behind Piastri despite a mid-race Safety Car.

Speaking to Dutch F1 broadcaster Viaplay after the race, Verstappen admitted that “nothing went well” for Red Bull with the RB21 totally lacking pace.

Put to him that he has plenty to talk about with the team after the Bahrain GP, he replied: “At the moment not. I don’t feel like it.

“Nothing went well.

“A bad start. Then the first pit stop, I don’t know what was going on. The lights stayed on, so usually according to protocol you can’t go.

“I think something went wrong there with the button. So then you’re totally stuck in traffic. The hard tyres also didn’t work out.

“Then you’re going in [to the pits] again thinking: ‘Hopefully a good stop.’

“Well, it was even worse. Then you’re even more stuck in traffic.

“I think at that moment I was last, so that was very beautiful.

“And afterwards I had that Safety Car, so I think to finish sixth we did great.

“But totally no pace. Zero.”

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Reports on Sunday claimed that Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen gave Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko “a piece of his mind” in the aftermath of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

However, PlanetF1.com has learned from sources close to the situation that no such incident took place.

Red Bull’s poor performance is likely to add to the uncertainty surrounding the future of Verstappen, who has been persistently linked with a move away from the team over the last 12 months amid rumoured interest from the likes of Mercedes and Aston Martin.

Verstappen is officially under contract with Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season, having signed a long-term deal in the aftermath of his maiden title-winning season in 2021.

However, Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, confirmed to media including PlanetF1.com at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix that Verstappen’s contract contains a “performance element” that could allow him to leave the team before 2028.

It has been speculated that Verstappen will be free to activate an exit clause if he is lower than third in the Drivers’ Championship after a significant portion of the F1 2025 season has been completed.

If true, that would appear to mirror a clause widely reported to have been included in at least one of Verstappen’s previous Red Bull contracts.

Marko recently confirmed that the summer break is likely to be “the period” when Verstappen’s performance clause is likely to come to the fore.

Verstappen currently sits third in the Drivers’ standings after the first four races of F1 2025, but sits just six points ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell.

Russell’s own Mercedes contract is understood by PlanetF1.com to expire at the end of this season.

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