'Not good enough' – Verstappen critical of Red Bull performance after 'so much trouble' in Azerbaijan GP Qualifying

Max Verstappen was visibly frustrated with Red Bull's performance during Qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, branding it "not good enough" as he was left to settle for eighth.

Verstappen had looked strong during Friday's final practice session on the streets of Baku after topping the times, beating the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, with plenty expected from him in the Qualifying hour.

With Antonelli eliminated after crashing during Q1, it looked like Verstappen would be in a straight shootout with Russell for pole, but the four-time World Champion's Q3 session unravelled, leaving him 1.5 seconds adrift and down the order.

"The whole Qualifying was not how it should be," said Verstappen. "Already from Q1, my engine is already half a second down on the straight compared to my team mate and they can't understand why, so you're just on the back foot.

"Then in Q3, on my middle lap, which is normally a good lap, exiting the final corner Turn 16, my battery just didn't charge to 100%, so I had to abort the lap, which means you lose tyre temperature and around here that's killing.

"[I] tried to put as much temperature in it, tried to push on the final lap but of course being down on top speed and I had a yellow flag from Lando [Norris off] in front of me meant that's where we are. It's not good enough.

"The whole weekend we are running really well, the car was feeling well and then we run into so much trouble in Qualifying. It's not good enough."

Verstappen admitted that it would have been difficult to beat Russell's time, with the Briton eight tenths clear of the next best car, but that second should have been achievable.

"When you have that many issues, you also don't deserve to be there," added Verstappen. "We need to be more robust and we need to be on top of these things."

Team mate Isack Hadjar had a more encouraging Qualifying performance on his return to F1 after a three-round absence with a wrist injury.

The Frenchman was towards the front throughout proceedings, eventually finishing with the fourth fastest time and marking only the fourth time this season Hadjar has beaten Verstappen in Qualifying.

"I'm actually even surprised to be that close from second," said Hadjar. "It's good. Even though I feel like there's still more to come.

"I feel like I was building up the whole weekend, I didn't take many risks [in practice], it's a risky track, I don't want to hit the wall with my conditions right now.

"Honestly, I took it quite easy but I felt like there was still more to unlock, even in Q3 I wish we had more laps. All in all, it's still good."