Jonas Leo
Shanghai, China – Max Verstappen, the four-time world champion, articulated profound dissatisfaction with his Red Bull RB22, describing it as "undriveable" and lamenting that "every lap is like survival" following a challenging qualifying session for the Chinese Grand Prix. The Dutch driver will start Sunday’s main race from eighth position on the grid, marking a significant and unexpected setback for a team accustomed to front-running performance.
The issues for Verstappen and the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull squad manifested throughout Saturday’s sessions at the Shanghai International Circuit. The day began with a sprint race where Verstappen finished ninth after a "disastrous start" saw his car plummet down the order "like a brick" from the initial grid position. This sluggish getaway immediately signaled underlying problems, a stark contrast to the typically rapid launches associated with Red Bull machinery. The qualifying session for the Grand Prix provided no respite, with the RB22 appearing fundamentally ill-suited to the demands of the Chinese circuit.
Red Bull Racing has historically prided itself on its exceptional ability to fine-tune car setups between practice and qualifying sessions, often delivering dramatic improvements that have been instrumental in their past successes. However, in Shanghai, despite what Verstappen described as "turning the car upside down" with extensive setup changes, no such miracles materialized. The team appeared to be "all at sea" with the RB22, unable to find a stable and predictable operating window for the car.
Verstappen’s frustration stemmed from a fundamental lack of harmony in the car’s handling characteristics. He reported suffering from the "nightmare of every race car driver" – a vehicle exhibiting both simultaneous oversteer and understeer. This paradoxical behavior means the car lacks grip at both the front and rear axles, making it incredibly difficult to anticipate its movements or extract consistent performance. As Verstappen candidly put it, the car "won’t communicate what it will decide to do next," leaving the driver in a constant state of uncertainty and limiting his ability to push the limits.
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The performance deficit was quantified by a significant nine-tenths of a second gap to the pole position time in qualifying, placing Verstappen in an unfamiliar eighth spot. His teammate, Isack Hadjar, experienced similar difficulties, qualifying just a tenth of a second further adrift, underscoring a team-wide struggle rather than an isolated driver issue.
Elaborating on his predicament, Verstappen stated, "We changed a lot on the car, and it makes zero difference. The whole weekend we’ve been off, the car is completely undriveable. I cannot even put a bit of a reference in. Every lap is like survival. The balance is really disconnected." These remarks painted a vivid picture of a driver fighting his equipment rather than the clock, a rare sight for a competitor of Verstappen’s caliber known for his innate ability to extract maximum performance from any machine. The "disconnected balance" points to a fundamental aerodynamic or mechanical instability, where the front and rear axles are not working in unison, leading to an unpredictable and confidence-sapping driving experience.
When pressed for the root cause of these issues, Verstappen indicated that while there was "a little bit on the engine," it was "not probably the biggest side." He emphasized that the primary deficiency lay with the car’s overall performance around the circuit. "We lose so much with the car at the moment around here. Plus, also I cannot push at all because the car doesn’t let me. So that’s why I don’t really feel in control of the car. It’s just really not how it should be." His concluding statement, "From lap one of this new regulation I’ve not enjoyed this car, for sure," suggests a deeper, more systemic problem with the RB22 under the prevailing technical regulations, implying an ongoing struggle to adapt the car concept to the current ruleset.
The outlook for Sunday’s Grand Prix appears grim from Verstappen’s perspective, who expressed little hope of significant progress through the field, suggesting he would likely finish the race "where I’m at." This assessment highlights the profound performance deficit and the intractable nature of the car’s handling characteristics experienced throughout the weekend.
Regarding the "disastrous start" in the sprint race, Verstappen revealed that the issue was similar to the dramatically sluggish getaway experienced by Liam Lawson in Melbourne. While ruling out a problem with the battery charging, he clarified, "The battery was fine. But I didn’t get enough power from the engine. I basically had the same problem as what Liam had more or less in Australia. I hope we can fix it. Otherwise I’m P20 again." This points to a recurring power unit or electronic control issue affecting the car’s initial acceleration, a critical component of race performance.
The team’s performance in Melbourne, the previous race, did not present such a stark picture of uncompetitiveness. There, Isack Hadjar qualified third, and a crash prevented Verstappen from potentially securing a position on the second row of the grid. However, Hadjar offered a critical reassessment of their Melbourne showing, suggesting that the seemingly better result was more a consequence of Red Bull’s rivals underperforming rather than the RB22’s inherent strength.
"No, it’s not different," Hadjar explained when comparing the car’s performance between the two circuits. "I think we were eight tenths off in Melbourne on a smaller track. Here it’s a lot bigger, which just exposes us a bit more. So, the lap time loss is bigger, but we have the same performance. I think they [Ferrari and McLaren] really messed up last weekend. That’s all I can say." This analysis implies that the RB22 has been operating at the "edge of what we have as a package" for some time, with the more demanding and expansive layout of the Shanghai circuit merely magnifying existing deficiencies.
Despite the immediate struggles and the palpable frustration, Hadjar conveyed a forward-looking perspective for the team: "So we suffer for now, and then we’re going to make progress anyway through the season." This statement reflects the inherent optimism and relentless development cycles characteristic of Formula 1 teams, even in the face of significant competitive challenges. However, for a driver of Max Verstappen’s championship pedigree, starting from eighth position with an "undriveable" car represents an unprecedented and concerning scenario, placing the team under intense scrutiny as they seek to understand and rectify the RB22’s unexpected shortcomings. The implications for the championship, even in these early stages, are significant, as such performance fluctuations can quickly erode any perceived advantage.
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Author Profile
- Jonas Leo is a passionate motorsport journalist and lifelong Formula 1 enthusiast. With a sharp eye for race strategy and driver performance, he brings readers closer to the world of Grand Prix racing through in-depth analysis, breaking news, and exclusive paddock insights. Jonas has covered everything from preseason testing to dramatic title deciders, capturing the emotion and precision that define modern F1. When he’s not tracking lap times or pit stop tactics, he enjoys exploring classic racing archives and writing about the evolution of F1 technology.
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