F1 Chinese Grand Prix: Red Bull F1 team make astonishing admission after Max Verstappen horror show

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, China, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull Racing

Red Bull make astonishing admission after Max Verstappen Chinese GP horror show

Red Bull qualified eighth and 10th respectively for the Sprint

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 13 March 2026 18:20

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Max Verstappen's Red Bull F1 team made an astonishing admission about their lack of pace following the conclusion of Sprint Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix on Friday.

Red Bull had a dismal start to their Chinese GP weekend, with Verstappen and Isack Hadjar only able to qualify down in eighth and 10th respectively for Saturday's sprint race.

That came just six days after Hadjar had put in a mighty lap during Australian GP qualifying, starting the race up in third.

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But this weekend, Red Bull have looked off it from the word go, with Verstappen 1.8 seconds off the pace in the one and only practice session, before finishing 1.7 seconds behind pole sitter George Russell in Sprint Qualifying.

SPRINT QUALI RESULTS: Verstappen suffers Shanghai nightmare as Mercedes shine

What went wrong for Red Bull in China?

F1 pundit Chris Medland revealed live on air that Red Bull told him their pace had completely gone compared to Melbourne. While their power unit still seems to be strong compared to their rivals, Red Bull issued an astonishing admission to Medland about their car design.

"We were all surprised by how much Red Bull struggled," Medland said on the F1TV broadcast. "I messaged a few people at Red Bull to ask where the pace had gone, 'we were never fast at all', they said.

"It was never there, and they said they were really struggling in the medium-speed sections. That covers the entire first and second sectors

"So the power unit isn’t the problem. The car simply doesn’t work in medium-speed corners, so they just can’t get the speed out of it."

Can Red Bull bounce back?

Red Bull only scored eight points as a team last weekend, with Hadjar being forced to retire from the race with an engine failure, and Verstappen leaving himself too much to do in the race after crashing out in qualifying, recovering to sixth.

It means that they are already 35 points behind Mercedes in the Constructors' championship after just one race weekend, but Shanghai in theory offers them plenty of opportunities, with a maximum of 58 points up for grabs for teams during a sprint race weekend.

They will need to show much more pace throughout the weekend though, and quickly sort out their qualifying issues, with main race qualifying taking place after the sprint race on Saturday.

If they find themselves down in eighth and 10th ahead of the main grand prix, then it's going to be a tall order for Verstappen and Hadjar to get themselves into the mix for a podium this weekend.