F1 News: Max Verstappen admits Red Bull 'DESERVED' horror Chinese Grand Prix qualifying

Thumbnail for article regarding drivers reacting to painted asphalt — Photo: © IMAGO

Chinese Grand Prix

Verstappen admits Red Bull 'DESERVED' horror China qualifying

The Dutchman will start the sprint race from fourth

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 19 April 2024 19:57

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Three-time world champion Max Verstappen has revealed the reasons behind his struggles during a chaotic sprint qualifying session at the Chinese Grand Prix.

In an uncharacteristically poor qualifying, Verstappen had an error-strewn SQ3 in treacherous conditions, eventually recovering to put in a time good enough for fourth place.

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The Dutchman was seen struggling for grip and heading wide into multiple corners during his hot laps in the session, and will start behind fellow world champions Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, as well as Lando Norris, who put in a stunning lap to take pole position.

Championship leader Verstappen will be hoping for better in qualifying for the main race, which takes place on Saturday as part of a newly-revised format for sprint weekends.

Norris claimed pole in sprint qualifying

Verstappen struggles in wet conditions

Verstappen did still manage to outqualify team-mate Sergio Perez, but the Dutchman was left bemused with how his RB20 operated in wet conditions.

Formula 1 has returned to the Shanghai International Circuit for the first time since 2019, meaning that there has been no relevant data for the teams to use heading into the weekend.

"It was incredibly slippery," Verstappen told Sky Sports after the session.

"I just struggled a lot to get the temperature in the tyres so that's why it was very difficult to keep the car on track. It never really switched on for me, it was like driving on ice.

"That's why it's also quite deserved where we are in qualifying, it just wasn't really working for me in the wet. Even though in the dry I think we look quite good, so I'm of course quite happy with that."

Elaborating on his chances of still claiming victory in Saturday's sprint race, Verstappen remained bullish.

"It's not ideal to start on the inside here, there's a lot lower grip left to right with this painted stuff on the tarmac, so we have to try and have the best start possible.

"Then I think it's going to be quite a long stint on one set of tyres in the Sprint, but that makes it quite interesting I think."