Formula 1, Sportrik Media - Max Verstappen delivered a blunt assessment of Red Bull Racing after failing to score points in the Sprint race at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix 2026 at the Shanghai International Circuit.
The Dutch driver endured a difficult start to the weekend after qualifying only eighth for the Sprint race. His situation worsened immediately when the lights went out, as the RB22 suffered a bogged-down launch that caused him to drop several positions and fall to the back of the pack.
Unlike the season opener in Australia, Verstappen struggled to overtake throughout the Sprint. The Red Bull car suffered from multiple performance issues, including unstable balance and severe tyre degradation, which made it difficult for the team to maintain competitive pace during the short race.
As a result, the Milton Keynes-based team was unable to challenge the leading contenders. At several points in the race, Red Bull’s pace appeared closer to the midfield than the front-running teams, an unusual scenario for a squad that has dominated recent seasons.
Verstappen eventually recovered to ninth place, but the result left him outside the points in the Sprint classification and increased pressure on the team ahead of the main qualifying session.
“I have not a lot of words at the moment, to be honest. Everything that could go wrong went wrong,” Verstappen told Sky F1.
“The start is of course one problem that we have to fix. But after that the balance was all over the place.”
“Probably the highest degradation of everyone out there, which is just uncontrollable, and there are some other bits on the car that we were not well prepared for.”
“So we just need to get our stuff together,” Verstappen added.
The Sprint result places additional pressure on Red Bull heading into the main qualifying session, particularly as rivals such as Mercedes and Ferrari have shown stronger performance throughout the Shanghai weekend.
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