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Max Verstappen complained that this season's Formula 1 cars are "super frustrating to drive," before complaining about the battery in a rant picked up on Red Bull team radio at the Australian Grand Prix. A new F1 era got underway at Albert Park on Sunday, as Verstappen sunk to a sixth-place finish while George Russell and Kimi Antonelli dominated for Mercedes.

Verstappen was forced to start at the back of the grid in Melbourne after crashing at Turn 1 on his first lap of qualifying on the Saturday. While he managed to make up ground at the opening event of the 2026 season, he trailed race-winner Russell at the chequered flag by a staggering 54.617 seconds. Speaking with media in the aftermath of the race, the 28-year-old branded his efforts "terrible," while doubling down on his criticism of new rules and regulations imposed by the banner.

He said: "I do love racing and I want it to be better than this. Let's see what we can do. I hope that, even during this year, maybe we can come up with some different solutions so it becomes more enjoyable."

Elsewhere, untelevised team radio footage from the event revealed the extent of Verstappen's frustrations, with the Dutch-Belgian driver expressing his distaste at how the cars drive. Speaking on the cooldown lap of the event, Gianpiero Lambiase was heard saying: "OK, Max. Good effort. Not a bad recovery, that. P6. And Fail 84 please, mate," before Verstappen replied: "Yeah, thank you, mate. I did what I could but we just grain way too quick. And also the hard tyre was definitely worse."

Laurent Mekies then added: "Thanks, Max. We take the P20 to P6. Even if it takes some frustrations, you did a good fight out there and we take the learning of this race as a group, so we go on to the next one. Well done, thank you."

Verstappen then explained: "Yeah, thank you, guys. You guys all worked very hard for this and you've done a really good job. It's just super frustrating to drive, but thank you."

The driver let his frustrations show behind the scenes, complaining to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase about the car's battery. "Mate, my battery is almost empty. It just doesn't charge," Verstappen said, to which Lambiase replied: "Yeah, copy."

Verstappen then complained: "Ah. The battery, mate. F**k's sake."

"Yeah. Copy, Max. Keep your head down. Today it's not gonna matter," Lambiase acknowledged.

All eyes will now turn to this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit. The action gets underway at 7am (GMT) on Sunday, March 15.