Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Autodromo do Algarve, 2021

Tyre performance is a “shame” says Verstappen after dentist comment on radio

2021 Portuguese Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen was disappointed with the performance of his tyres during the first day of practice for the Portuguese Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver said on his radio during practice he would have to “visit the dentist after the weekend” because the vibrations on one set of tyres had been so bad.

“These tyres are already vibrating like a flat-spotted for 300 metres,” he told his race engineer. “What a joke, mate, I can’t even see where I’m going, so much vibration.”

Speaking after the session Verstappen said the combination of a slippery track surface and the reduced downforce on this year’s cars made for tricky driving conditions.

“It’s just very tricky out here with the Tarmac again,” he said. “It’s super-slippery. I know it’s the same for everyone, but it’s not really enjoyable to to drive.”

“Of course the tyres have changed and of course we lost a bit of grip from the car compared to last year,” Verstappen added. “But it’s very tricky out there.

“It’s a shame because it’s all about tyre prep, tyre temperature and it shouldn’t be like that. But it’s, of course, like I said before, the same for everyone.”

After ending the day second-fastest behind Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen said Red Bull and Mercedes look closely matched this weekend.

“The car felt alright but still some work to do for tomorrow, that’s for sure,” he said. “But overall it’s fine.”

2021 Portuguese Grand Prix

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7 comments on “Tyre performance is a “shame” says Verstappen after dentist comment on radio”

  1. I don’t understand the wording on the title, is it a typo? @keithcollantine

    1. “performance” and “is” switched…

    2. Yeah even as a non native English speaker, I could tell something was wrong

  2. Tyre is performance. Not entirely inaccurate because tyres have an impact on overall performance.

  3. Again we have the tyre supplier being too conservative.

    Be nice if we didn’t have to hear continuously that “it’s all about switching the tyre on”

    If the windows for performance is that narrow, there’s something really wrong with the tyres. Thank you so much Pirelli.

  4. It could be the dreaded “Bell Cheque” striking again and adding an unexpected “e” to the end of what was likely the correct word.
    Sham, a trick that deludes : HOAX, Credit to M. Webster.

  5. Didnt follow the tyre thing that closely the last years, but I could have sworn we have this situation now for more than 6 years in which Pirelli just simply destroys racing or at least deprives us from seeing what drivers and cars can do. I guess they dont want to look bad themselves, so probably there is a regulatory ‘lets artificially make it into a circus element’ enforced on them by FOM or FIA. Otherwise they are completely incompetent and should have been replaced years ago. I am starting to get more and more troubled by this FIA Liberty dynamic. For years now they have shown just to care about commercializing everything but they totally forgot the sport itself. Worrying stuff.

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