Max Verstappen complained about a familiar problem as he voiced his discontent with a car problem he experienced during Canadian Grand Prix practice.
The Dutchman is known to speak his mind while behind the wheel of his car. And so far this season he has sent several angry messages to Red Bull whenever he has experienced something with his car that he doesn't like.
Quite often, the problem has been of a similar nature. And that was the case on Friday as the championship leader spoke over the radio to report an issue to his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
"These downshifts are a joke!" shouted Verstappen. And his irritation was understandable given how often he has flagged a similar issue at other race weekends so far this year.
The problem first reared its head in Bahrain right at the beginning of the season. And, during several other practice sessions at the race weekends since, Verstappen has reported problems with his gearbox, particularly on those downshifts.
The good news, as far as the Red Bull race is concerned, is that those problems have not yet caused too much damage to any of his competitive efforts. He has not failed to finish any of the races so far, winning five and crossing the line second in the other two.
Verstappen might have been simply grateful to be out on track at all during that FP2 session. After all, the first practice of the day lasted for only a few minutes before it was red flagged – and never got going again.
Pierre Gasly brought out those red flags as he pulled over on the side of the track with a car problem. But it quickly became clear that there was a larger issue overall as, after his Alpine was wheeled out of danger, there was no sign of the track going green again.
The session was eventually cancelled, with just a few minutes of running out of the hour that was planned. The FIA explained there had been a problem with the CCTV system around the track, meaning cars could not run due to safety concerns.
The race director uses the cameras placed around the track to keep an eye on any potential crashes or stoppages on track. If they cannot see what is happening live – as was the case during FP1 – then it could produce a potentially dangerous situation if drivers are unaware of a potential danger around any corner.
