Verstappen Faces Tough Qualifying at Chinese Grand Prix
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen described his Red Bull car's performance at the Chinese Grand Prix as a struggle for "survival" just to complete a lap in Shanghai.
From the outset, Verstappen expressed dissatisfaction with his car ahead of Sunday’s race, calling it undriveable on Friday and stating,
"We have never had anything this bad."
He qualified eighth and finished ninth in the sprint race on Saturday morning, failing to score points. Despite hopes that setup changes would improve performance in qualifying, Verstappen ended up further behind, finishing a full second slower than pole-sitter Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.
Reflecting on the weekend, Verstappen said,
"We change a lot on the car, and it makes zero difference. The whole weekend we’ve been off. The car is completely undriveable. I cannot even put a bit of a reference in. Every lap is like survival.
We turned it upside-down and it was exactly the same, so I’m expecting exactly the same tomorrow. In the past, sometimes we would throw it upside-down and it would work. Now, nothing works."
Verstappen’s difficulties contrast with his recovery drive in Australia, where he moved from 20th to sixth. However, the RB22’s lack of balance in China made pushing for fast lap times nearly impossible.
"It’s very inconsistent. Whatever lap I do, I am like: ’All right, well, that is it’. Can I go four 10ths faster? Maybe. Can I go four 10ths slower? Yeah, that’s a big chance as well because it’s just all over the place. It’s just incredibly difficult. It’s incredibly tough to drive. There’s no balance, I cannot lean on the car. Every lap is a fight. It’s just very difficult."
Red Bull, having built their own engines for the first time, showed promise in pre-season testing but have struggled during race weekends. Verstappen’s teammate Isack Hadjar finished 15th in the sprint race and ninth in qualifying.
The team was outpaced by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, as well as Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies acknowledged the need for comprehensive improvements, stating on Friday,
"The gap to Ferrari and Mercedes is substantial, it’s probably half in the straight, half in the corner. There is not one single area that we need to improve. It’s a 360 improvement. It’s going to be a development race. There is not one single area that we pinpoint in terms of the gap to the competition but it’s going to be a full effort from all departments."
Meanwhile, world champion Lando Norris admitted McLaren faces a performance deficit to Mercedes and Ferrari after qualifying fifth. Norris, who won the constructors’ championship with McLaren in 2025, expressed uncertainty about the reasons for losing significant time to front-runners.
"My final sector has been pretty poor and we have been losing a little bit on the straights to some of the other cars which we need to understand why," said Norris. "The last corner here is like my worst corner of the season, I can’t get it right, and I made quite a big mistake on my final lap there. Where we are now is where we deserve to be and where we should be."
Lewis Hamilton, who ended last season without a podium for the first time and at one point suggested Ferrari should replace him, qualified third for the Chinese GP, marking his first top-three start in 477 days. He finished fourth in Australia and aims to improve on that result.
"We’re hunting, we’re chasing, and I know everyone is geared up to just do everything they can to close that gap to Mercedes," Hamilton said. "It’s highly unlikely that we will be able to beat them in the race. Our statistics show they are between four and six tenths faster than us.
But maybe with strategy, maybe something can happen, maybe with the start, maybe there’s a way. I definitely need to make sure I don’t kill my tyres trying to either keep up with them or keep one behind. I need to drive better tomorrow."
Verstappen reiterated his frustration with the Red Bull car’s inconsistency and difficulty, emphasizing the challenge of each lap,
"It’s very inconsistent. Whatever lap I do, I am like: ’All right, well, that is it’. Can I go four 10ths faster? Maybe. Can I go four 10ths slower? Yeah, that’s a big chance as well because it’s just all over the place. It’s just incredibly difficult. It’s incredibly tough to drive. There’s no balance, I cannot lean on the car. Every lap is a fight. It’s just very difficult."
Red Bull’s performance issues were highlighted by being outpaced by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, as well as Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren. Team principal Laurent Mekies acknowledged the necessity for improvements across all areas.
Lando Norris also commented on McLaren’s performance gap to Mercedes and Ferrari after qualifying fifth. Norris noted the team’s uncertainty about losing time on straights and difficulties with the last corner.
"My final sector has been pretty poor and we have been losing a little bit on the straights to some of the other cars which we need to understand why," Norris said. "The last corner here is like my worst corner of the season, I can’t get it right, and I made quite a big mistake on my final lap there. Where we are now is where we deserve to be and where we should be."
Lewis Hamilton expressed his determination to challenge Mercedes and secure his first Ferrari podium, acknowledging the difficulty but remaining hopeful about strategy and race conditions.
"We’re hunting, we’re chasing, and I know everyone is geared up to just do everything they can to close that gap to Mercedes," Hamilton said. "It’s highly unlikely that we will be able to beat them in the race. Our statistics show they are between four and six tenths faster than us. But maybe with strategy, maybe something can happen, maybe with the start, maybe there’s a way. I definitely need to make sure I don’t kill my tyres trying to either keep up with them or keep one behind. I need to drive better tomorrow."
