Let $\mathbb B^n$ be a unit ball in $\mathbb R^n$ and let $F$ be a smooth function on it. Let $\mathbb B^k$ be a unit ball in $\mathbb R^k$. **Question.** Is it true that $F$ has a critical point in the interior of $\mathbb B^n$ if there exists a smooth surjective map $\varphi:\mathbb B^n\to \mathbb B^k$, that has the following properties: 1) For any point $x$ *in the interior* of $\mathbb B^k$ the minimum of $F|_{\varphi^{-1}(x)}$ is attained in the interior of $\mathbb B^n$. 2) The maximum $$\max_{y\in \mathbb B^k}\min_{x\in \varphi^{-1}(y)} F(x)$$ is attained in the interior of $\mathbb B^k$ at some point $\bf y$. 3) Moreover, the **strict** minimum of $F$ on $\varphi^{-1}(\bf y)$ lies in the interior of $\mathbb B^n$. **Comment.** I hope that the answer is positive if the differential of $\varphi$ is surjective on the whole ball $\mathbb B^n$ (but the comments of Fedja were producing counter-examples to the previous versions of the question). I would be grateful for a reference (or a counter-example...).