Verstappen frustrated after ‘disaster’ in Shanghai – Frustration is beginning to build for Max Verstappen after a challenging opening to the Chinese Grand Prix weekend. The former world champion struggled for pace throughout Friday’s sessions, admitting that the day had been a “disaster” for him and the Red Bull team.
The Dutch driver was unable to challenge the front-runners in either of the opening sessions, finishing eighth in the only practice session before qualifying in the same position for the sprint race later in the day. On both occasions, he found himself a long way off the benchmark pace set by George Russell, who has looked dominant so far in the new generation of Formula 1 cars for the Mercedes F1 Team.
With the competitive gap appearing unusually large, Verstappen did not hide his frustration when speaking after sprint qualifying.
Verstappen: “The whole day was a disaster.”
Speaking to Sky Sports after the session, he admitted that the day had been extremely difficult.
‘The whole day was a disaster in terms of pace,’ he said bluntly.
The Red Bull driver explained that the main issues were a lack of grip and balance, which made it extremely difficult to approach corners with confidence. According to Verstappen, these handling problems are costing him a significant amount of time per lap.
“The biggest issue is that we simply don’t have grip,” he said. “The balance isn’t there, and that means you lose an enormous amount of time in the corners.”
Once these core issues arise, other smaller problems emerge too, further complicating matters for the team.
‘And then, of course, that causes other minor problems,’ Verstappen added. “But the main issue for us is that the cornering behaviour is completely off.”
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New regulations are proving difficult
This difficult start to the weekend continues a trend that has plagued Verstappen since the beginning of the 2026 season.
The Dutchman has already expressed his dissatisfaction with the sport’s new technical regulations, which have dramatically altered the design of the current generation of Formula 1 cars. Teams across the grid have had to adapt quickly to the changes, but some appear to have made faster progress than others.
At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Verstappen could only manage sixth place. Once again, Russell was the driver to beat that weekend, highlighting the current performance gap between Red Bull and its rivals.
In Shanghai, early signs suggest that this gap may not close anytime soon.
When asked whether improvements could be made quickly, Verstappen’s response was far from optimistic.
‘I don’t know what we can do at the moment,’ he admitted — a comment that raised eyebrows, given Red Bull’s reputation for rapid development.
Hadjar is facing similar struggles
Verstappen was not the only Red Bull driver to struggle during sprint qualifying. His teammate, Isack Hadjar, also had a challenging session, ultimately securing 10th place on the grid. The young driver finished more than 2.2 seconds off the fastest time, highlighting the scale of the challenge currently facing the team.
The fact that both drivers experienced similar problems suggests that the issues are deeply rooted in the characteristics of the car rather than in their individual driving styles.
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Schumacher points to Red Bull changes
Former Formula 1 driver and Sky analyst Ralf Schumacher believes that Red Bull’s current struggles may be partly the result of significant personnel changes within the team.
Several key figures have left the organisation over the past year, and Schumacher believes this may now be affecting performance.
“They are now paying the price for losing various people in the team,” he explained.
He also suggested that Red Bull may simply not have developed their new car as effectively as some of their competitors.
“The car is heavy and not good enough,” he said. “Even Max can’t change that at the moment.”
For a team that dominated much of the previous Formula 1 era, the early stages of the 2026 season have proven to be unexpectedly challenging — and Verstappen’s frustration in Shanghai suggests that it will take some time for them to return to the top.
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Back in 2014, the F1 engine suppliers we’re not obliged to give their customers the latest version of the engines under the regulations. They claimed any upgrade must be run by the works team to ensure the upgraded product was reliable and delivered the functionality they expected.
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I thought Verstappen was the only driver who could win in any car. What’s happened?