Four-time world champion Verstappen qualified sixth for the sprint, in which he gained two places by passing Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin at the start and moving up a position when Piastri crashed.
Afterwards, he complained of a lack of grip in the car, and the changes Red Bull made in an attempt to improve it made it worse. He was knocked out of qualifying after the first session.
It was the first time that had happened since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix – and that was as a result of engine problems.
Verstappen said he and the team did not know why the car was so uncompetitive.
“We need to understand what our problems are, first of all,” he said. “It’s not been good. It seems that we don’t really understand why it’s going that way.
“There was just no grip. I changed a few times the car and it didn’t work. That’s something that we need to figure out.”
Red Bull even changed the floor on their car, reverting to an older specification to the one that had been influential in their step up in performance when it was introduced at the Italian Grand Prix in early September.
“It’s two different floors, so clearly, that is not it,” Verstappen said.
