F1 Chinese GP | Verstappen resigned: "I don't expect miracles."

Shanghai – Hard times at home Red BullThe Chinese weekend confirms the technical ordeal for the team Milton Keynes. Max Verstappen the first one ends Sprint Race of the season sadly out of the points zone, and the negative trend shows no signs of reversing in the official qualifying, where the four-time Dutch world champion does not go beyond eighth position. Following him shortly behind is the young Isaac Hadjar, fifteenth in the Sprint, but ninth in qualifying.

It's a difficult moment for Max, now more than ever far from the top of the rankings and from the sidereal performances of the Mercedes Benz and Ferrari. It is not necessary to reiterate how much Verstappen hates the new regulatory framework: his vitriolic statements made in the press conference on Thursday have already gone viral, where he joked that “practicing Mario Kart” to prepare for the races. However, the reality of the track is very different and, unfortunately for him, not even virtual training seems to be able to solve the chronic problems of the car. Milton Keynes.

La RB22 It seems to have been born under a dull star. The car suffers in every crucial phase of the weekend: it is slow and awkward at the start, it struggles enormously in managing tire temperatures and, above all, it appears deficient in energy management, the true beating heart of this 2026 regulation. Between the Sprint Race and the official qualifying session, the garage led by Laurent mekies He worked frantically, trying to overturn the setup to restore the drivers' confidence, but the results were practically nil.

The numbers are stark: Verstappen finished eighth in Sprint Qualifying and confirmed his eighth place on Sunday's grid. But the most worrying statistic is the time gap: while on Friday he was eight tenths behind the leaders, in official qualifying the gap widened to a full second. A worrying decline that reflects a team currently lacking a technical compass.

Max's outburst: "Every lap is a threat."

At the end of the sessions, Verstappen did not make excuses, describing a situation of extreme discomfort inside the cockpit:

“It's been a very difficult weekend so far, one of the worst I can remember,” Max began. “In the Sprint, we had a complicated start that immediately compromised any chance of a comeback; we know what went wrong, but beyond the initial acceleration, we suffered from severe graining and a car balance that to say the least was precarious. We changed the car a lot ahead of Qualifying, almost rebuilt it, but unfortunately it didn't make much difference on the lap times. At the moment, the RB22 is very complicated to interpret and quite difficult to drive: I'm struggling to find a consistent reference point from which to build my pace, so every lap is a challenge. The problems are the same as in the Sprint, there will be a lot to analyze overnight, but I don't expect miracles tomorrow.”

Hadjar remains glued to Verstappen

Despite the gloomy atmosphere in the Austrian garage, there is one element that can make the team's top management smile: the growth of Isaac HadjarThe Franco-Algerian is, in fact, the first teammate capable of truly keeping pace with Verstappen right from the start. Sprint problems aside - where a contact with Antonelli relegated him to the back of the pack — in qualifying Hadjar was almost perfect, finishing in ninth position, just over a tenth behind the Dutch captain.

“The team has worked hard to improve performance, and I feel like we've squeezed everything we can out of the car,” Hadjar commented. “We've managed to find a bit more pace, but consistency is still a dream. In the Sprint, everything was working well until the collision, which makes it difficult to have a clear idea for the long race. Being close to Max in qualifying is a great feeling; it gives you confidence, but at the same time, we'd both like to fight for the podium, not for ninth place. Ninth place is still a decent starting point. Tomorrow, my goal is to bring home the team's first points. It will be a race of suffering and management, but we'll give it our all.”