Max Verstappen directed an X-rated rant towards his Red Bull team after a difficult start to his British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone.

The four-time world champion shocked the British crowd to take pole position for Sunday’s British GP, after he struggled with his Red Bull car across the three practice sessions on Friday and Saturday.

Verstappen complained about a variety of parts on his car, from the tyres to the handbrake, in a series of characteristically sweary rants to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, where he complained: “Mate this brake bias is ****. This offset, it’s like a handbrake!”

Verstappen’s frustration with the RB21 is understandable, especially as he entered the British GP weekend with a huge deficit behind both McLaren stars in the drivers’ championship.

Verstappen’s impressive performance emerged after a frustrating weekend for the champion, where he was consistently pressed on a potential move to Mercedes.

Those questions are now unlikely to subside as the 27-year-old’s struggles with Red Bull continued into Sunday’s main event at Silverstone, where he could only manage a fifth-place finish behind both McLarens, Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber and home hero Lewis Hamilton.