Dutch Formula 1 ace Max Verstappen couldn’t contain his anger during qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, letting out an expletive-laden rant at his track rivals and accusing them of holding him up.
Verstappen, 21, is one of Formula One’s biggest talents but has a temper to match, and showed that yet again in Shanghai on Saturday.
The Red Bull driver - who has earned the nickname 'mad Max' from some - was unable to cross the line to start his final ‘flying lap’ in Q3, having been slowed up by a host of rivals who had overtaken him and then slowed up.
Verstappen was two seconds short of making the limit needed to allow another lap, and let rip over the team radio at his fellow racers.
“Ah mate, f*cking hell, I’m finished, right?” the driver said to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
“We are finished,” the engineer confirmed.
“They are such w*nkers honestly. Everybody just lining up and they are just f*cking it up. You’re just trying to be nice but everybody’s just f*cking it up,” the youngster fumed.
He later vented his anger on Dutch TV channel Ziggo Sport, threatening to derail his rivals’ qualifying chances at future grands prix with similar tactics.
"We were just staying neatly behind each other, but at a certain point Vettel passed me and the two Renaults as well.
“So they f*cked up my entire build-up, while there is an unwritten rule that you just follow each other.
“But whatever. From now on in qualifying I'm going to f*ck them up as well.”
Verstappen qualified fifth for Sunday’s race at the Shanghai International Circuit, with Mercedes locking out the front of the grid as Valtteri Bottas pipped teammate Lewis Hamilton to pole.
Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari will start third, while teammate Charles Leclerc is fourth.
Toro Rosso's Alexander Albon survived a huge smash, having run wide at final corner, remarkably walking away unscathed from the wreckage of his car.
The damage to the Toro Rosso means Albon will miss Sunday's race, which will be the 1,000th official F1 grand prix.
Verstappen holds the record for the youngest-ever F1 grand prix winner, clinching victory at the age of just 18 at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016.