Hungarian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen in F-word rant after latest Renault engine failure costs Red Bull dear

Red Bull’s relationship with Renault continues to deteriorate rapidly after Verstappen was forced to retire just six laps into Sunday’s Grand Prix

Max Verstappen launched a foul-mouthed tirade at Red Bull’s engine suppliers Renault after his Hungarian Grand Prix hopes went up in smoke after yet another mechanical failure.

Verstappen has been forced to retire three times this season, twice due to issues with the Renault power united in the back of his Red Bull, while teammate Daniel Ricciardo has suffered three engine-related retirements.

Having made a strong start to the race at the Hungaroring as he passed Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz to move from seventh to fifth, Verstappen was sticking with frontrunners Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen only for his Red Bull to lose all power on the sixth lap.

Red Bull have already decided to ditch Renault power at the end of the season in favour of Honda, despite their long partnership that reaped four drivers’ championships with Sebastian Vettel and four constructors’ titles, and Sunday’s latest setback has only soured relations with the French manufacturer even further.

Upon being told to pull over the car, 20-year-old Verstappen flew into a fit of fury and even considered driving on in order to maximise the damage to the Renault power unit.

“Can I not just go ahead, I don’t f***ing care if this engine blows up,” Verstappen said on his team radio. “What a f***ing joke, all the f***ing time with this s***, honestly."

A furious Max Verstappen makes his way back to the pits after retiring (Getty)

The retirement cost Red Bull a shot at a podium finish – or even more – at a track where they were expected to challenge for victory due to their previous strong form in Hungary and their car’s preference for short, technical circuits. A wet qualifying session seriously hampered those hopes, with Verstappen struggling to seventh and Ricciardo way out of position in 12th, and team principal Christian Horner admitted that the team were perplexed by the struggles given that they are usually strong performers in the rain.

But Verstappen’s early retirement was all the more painful given Ricciardo’s impressive speed during the grand prix as he scythed his way through the field with a series of risky overtakes into turn one to finish fourth, with his lap times suggesting that they could have mixed it up with Ferrari and Mercedes.

A more subdued Verstappen said afterwards that the performances that Red Bull are getting out of the Renault engines are not what they expect given the price that the team pays for them, even if they are to go their separate ways at the end of the year.

"Honestly, it's just not at all how it should be," he said. "You pay millions as a team for, you hope, a decent engine. But it keeps breaking down. We are also the slowest out there.

"Honestly at the moment, it's difficult to accept."

Max Verstappen prepares for the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix (Getty)

He added of his cockpit rant: "I was very angry at the radio. I think there was a lot of beeping out there, which was a shame that they beeped it away, it would've been better if they would've allowed it."

His boss was equally as furious, having been communicating with Sky Sports the moment that Verstappen’s car ground to a halt.

“I am not going to get drawn into saying too much, but we pay multi-millions of pounds for these engines, for a first-class product, a state-of-the-art product, and you can see it is quite clearly some way below that,” Horner said.

“So it is frustrating. That is what it is. We still have Daniel in the race and I will let Cyril [Abiteboul, Renault’s managing director] come up with his excuses afterwards.”