Max Verstappen discloses the true reasons behind Red Bull's struggles during the F1 qualifying session in Baku.

After clocking the fastest time in the final practice session and feeling confident about the upgrades, Verstappen aimed to create a surprise in Baku, but an engine issue complicated matters.

Initially, it seemed related to deployment issues, indicating problems on the electrical side of the power unit. However, while speaking to a select group of Dutch media in the Baku paddock, Verstappen elaborated on what was truly happening.

"Throughout qualifying, starting from Q1, I encountered an engine problem, which caused me to lose at least half a second compared to my teammate. It only deteriorated from there. In Q2 and Q3, it was a total disaster, so it's clear we have an engine issue."

When questioned by Motorsport.com, Verstappen clarified that the issue wasn't initially about deployment – as it may have appeared – but was instead with the internal combustion engine.

"No, it wasn't related to the electrical side. In Q1, we immediately identified a problem. Naturally, at that stage, you ponder, ‘What could it be? Is the engine too cold or perhaps too hot?’ All of those factors are plausible since everything is quite sensitive these days. But it later became evident that we truly had an issue with the ICE. It worsened, and by Q3, that engine was completely malfunctioning."

How the initial issue led to further setbacks

The combustion engine problem subsequently triggered a series of other complications, with Verstappen navigating from one issue to another on Friday afternoon.

"The top speed kept decreasing. On my second lap in Q3, my battery wasn’t charging either, which was clearly due to the combustion engine issue. That results in many misfires and a host of other problems, completely confusing the system."

This was evident in the onboard footage. Between Turns 15 and 16, Verstappen’s head suddenly jolted forward, a section that would typically be a simple flat-out segment.

"Yeah, that happened because my battery switched off there," the Dutchman explained. "When you're slow on the straights, you end up using more battery when exiting corners to compensate. Consequently, you hit super clipping in certain areas, and that clipping is quite aggressive.

"The whole system was just disoriented. You spend extra time on a straight due to your slower speed, leading to more battery consumption. This is similar to what happens with Honda; you also notice them clipping much more than others because they have to maintain full throttle for longer on the straights."

In addition to the engine troubles, this also disrupted the planned runs. Verstappen had to abandon his second flying lap – or what should have been a flying lap – impacting the rest of the session.

"I had to cancel that lap, but then you lose significant tyre temperature, which is crucial here. You could see everyone consistently pushing and weaving," Verstappen stated, noting that nearly everyone in Q3 completed just one long run – unlike a typical Q3 session.

Only McLaren opted to pit, but Verstappen continued: "You could observe that it wasn’t a success for them either, so we just kept going."

"However, when you have to abort a lap, you lose the optimal tyre temperature for the final lap. Plus, the engine was essentially failing, and then there was a yellow flag during my last lap as well,” he mentioned, referring to the incident involving Lando Norris. “So I had to leave at least two tenths out there in that corner."