Max Verstappen said Friday that the Chinese Grand Prix f1 quali session was a “disaster pace-wise” after he finished eighth in Sprint Qualifying in Shanghai, citing no grip and major cornering loss; Red Bull’s team principal apologised on the radio as the team searches for fixes.
F1 Quali: What happened in Shanghai
Max Verstappen, Red Bull driver, ended the day eighth in Sprint Qualifying and described Friday at the Chinese Grand Prix as a “disaster pace-wise. ” He said the car had “no grip, ” poor balance and was “losing massive amounts of time in the corners, ” and warned that those problems then triggered other issues. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull driver, reached SQ3 but qualified tenth after suffering a battery deployment issue that limited straight-line speed on his SQ3 lap; he said he “was happy with my lap” but did not yet know why the straight-line speed loss occurred.
Immediate reactions from the garage
Laurent Mekies, Red Bull team principal, apologised to Max Verstappen over the team radio, saying “Sorry, Max. Tough one, a lot to learn. ” Mekies added that the weekend was still long and that the team needed to learn from the session. Verstappen responded publicly: “The whole day has been a disaster pace-wise. I had no grip — honestly I think that’s the biggest problem — no balance, just losing massive amounts of time in the corners, to be honest. ” On whether changes would be made, Verstappen said: “We’ll have a look. I don’t know at the moment what we can do, but yeah, we’ll see. ” Hadjar said of his lap: “I was happy with my lap — it was good, but I don’t think that is going to change our weekend. I’m just happy to be not too far from Max. ”
Key context: where Red Bull sit and the margins involved
Red Bull’s Sprint Qualifying performance left them a long way off the front of the field. Sprint pole-sitter George Russell led the session, with Verstappen 1. 734 seconds adrift of Russell’s pace in Sprint Qualifying. The session produced a Mercedes one-two with Russell ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli, and other established contenders such as McLaren and Ferrari were ahead of the Red Bulls in the timesheets. The situation compounded after practice, where Verstappen had also been eighth on the timesheets, reinforcing that the problem was persistent through the day.
What’s next — how the weekend can change
Red Bull face a quick turnaround: the team must diagnose grip, balance and the specific straight-line power issues flagged by Hadjar before Saturday’s main Qualifying session and the Sprint. Verstappen’s comment that he does not know “what we can do” sets a blunt expectation that solutions may not be immediate. Mekies’ on-radio apology and his call to “learn from [today]” signal a programme of checks and potential setup changes overnight aimed at recovering competitiveness. The team will evaluate data from both drivers and decide whether mechanical or setup adjustments can reduce the cornering deficit and the straight-line loss ahead of the next sessions in Shanghai, and the next official running will reveal whether Red Bull can claw their way back after a disruptive f1 quali day.
