The Red Bull champion is struggling to find the pace on the Shanghai circuit and sits only eighth on the sprint grid.
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Max Verstappen experienced a frustrating sprint qualifying session at the Chinese Grand Prix, only managing to reach eighth position after narrowly avoiding several setbacks.
The four-time world champion was hampered several times, notably by Pierre Gasly, who forced him wide in the final corner during SQ2. The incident, which Verstappen described as “ridiculous”, forced him through the gravel and compromised his attempt.
Despite everything, the Dutchman managed to qualify for the final phase of the session, but only to secure a spot on the fourth row of the sprint grid on Saturday.
Handling issues and lack of grip
Verstappen did not hide his exasperation with the behavior of his Red Bull: “The whole day has been a disaster in terms of pace”, he admitted. “No grip. Honestly, I think that’s the biggest problem. No grip, no balance, we’re losing a lot of time in the corners.”
He explains that this lack of grip triggers other technical issues: “Because of that, we start triggering other small problems. But the real problem for us is that the cornering performance is completely off.”
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Verstappen’s RB22 is thus showing its limits on the Shanghai track, and the Austrian manufacturer’s engineers will have to find solutions quickly to allow the four-time world champion to fight at the front.
Red Bull in general difficulty
The frustrations do not end there for Red Bull, as its second driver, Isack Hadjar, finished tenth in sprint qualifying. Both cars are now in parc fermé for the sprint race, which limits modifications before Saturday’s start. However, adjustments remain possible for the afternoon qualifying session, offering an opportunity to rectify the situation.
Asked about Red Bull’s possibility of returning to the race for the rest of the weekend, Verstappen remained cautious: “We’ll see. For now, I don’t know what we can do. But we’ll see.”
With a Red Bull struggling on this technical circuit, Verstappen will have to make the most of his eighth position to limit the damage from the opening laps. Tire management and car behavior will be crucial if the four-time champion wants to stay in contention for points and victory during this Chinese weekend.
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