Max Verstappen lamented a "shocking experience" driving his car in qualifying with Red Bull's hitherto crushing 2023 form suddenly deserting them at the Singapore GP, leaving hopes of maintaining their long unbeaten race-winning run seemingly in tatters.
On a dismal and fraught qualifying night under the Marina Bay floodlights for the runaway title leaders, Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez struggled with their RB19s, were both knocked out in Q2, and will start Sunday's race at 1pm from outside the top 10.
It was the first time in five years that both the team's cars had dropped out of qualifying before the pole shootout, Q3.
Verstappen was also the subject of three post-qualifying investigations for alleged blocking incidents, for which he was reprimanded for two but at least escaped the further pain of grid penalties.
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"I knew it would always be tough to put it on pole. But this I didn't expect," said Verstappen, who has won all 10 races since the end of April, to Sky Sports F1.
"Throughout the weekend we have been struggling. FP3 was actually not too bad but then we tried a few more things on the car for qualifying and that tipped it over where it became undrivable again.
"The car was massively bottoming out in the big braking zones, all the time if I wanted to brake late and hard, my front wheels were getting unloaded.
"It's just a shocking experience and then trying to lean on the car in the slow-speed, I was constantly sliding and no traction, just really difficult to drive."
Verstappen had been hoping to extend his record run of consecutive victories on Sunday - but he now admits that even making the podium is unlikely on a track where overtaking is difficult and the RB19 is simply not performing so far.
"For sure not," he said when asked about his podium chances. "I think anyway here it's much less about having a good race car. It's a bit like Monaco. You put it all on qualifying.
"Even if you have deg[radation], it doesn't matter because people won't really pass you because the tyre wear is not that high. It will be a long, tough afternoon. Hopefully not too many safety cars and the race will be quite short."
So what went so wrong for the dominant Red Bull?
Fast closing on the retention of their drivers' and constructors' titles while boasting an unprecedented 100 per cent winning record from 14 races so far this year, Red Bull had still warned going into the weekend that the unique layout and challenge of Singapore's street track - which tripped up Mercedes during their own dominant era in the past - could prove the biggest hurdle yet to their unbeaten record and hopes of F1's first immaculate season.
But no one had expected their performance to unravel quite like this, least of all the team themselves.
"It's very very confusing to have dropped the amount of pace we have. The car is not responding to changes - understeer, oversteer, braking issues," admitted team boss Christian Horner.
"It's like we haven't managed to get the tyre into the right working window. Usually when you see a gap that big, it's because a tyre isn't fundamentally working.
"We have tried different things with setup, different preparations and it's just not happened.
"A lot for us to understand tonight and it will be very, very tough for us to make good progress tomorrow [Sunday] but we will be trying very hard."
Both Verstappen and Perez vented expletive-laden frustration with the car over team radio amid a bruising session in which the RB19 did not display its usual poise or, critically, pace as Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren all took advantage to snare the grid's leading positions instead.
Horner added: "The car we have here for qualifying is essentially the identical car that we had two weeks ago in Monza and a week before that at Zandvoort."
Asked if the sharp loss of form could be in any way attributed to a technical directive which came into force from the FIA this weekend clamping down on flexible front wings, Horner replied: "Zero. Nothing has changed on the car. We tried a new aero part on Friday, and we reverted on that component, so it's a tried and tested set-up that we have.
"It just hasn't responded on this circuit, on this asphalt, trying to get the tyres to get into the window, it's been very, very hard for both drivers.
"We'll see tomorrow [Sunday], we won't give up on anything but, starting outside the top 10, at a track that's really hard to overtake, we've got quite a lot on."
Perez, who said a "massive under delivery" from the engine caused him to spin at the start of his final lap in Q2 as he tried to salvage a top-10 berth, summed up the unusual predicament the team find themselves in.
"I think if we can score a few points, I would be happy with that," he admitted.
For a team which arrived at Marina Bay with a chance, albeit a mathematically remote one, of wrapping up the Constructors' Championship on Sunday with a stunning seven races to spare, the change of weekend targets is certainly stark.
Sky Sports F1's live Singapore GP schedule
Sunday September 17
11.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Singapore GP build-up
1pm: THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX
3pm: Chequered Flag: Singapore GP reaction
4pm: Ted's Notebook
Watch Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix live only on Sky Sports F1 at 1pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW. Cancel anytime