Red Bull Send Message to Max Verstappen After Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying Disaster

The Red Bull driver had a better performance than on his qualifying lap in Australia, but looks some way off the pace compared to Ferrari and Mercedes.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull | Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Ever since the 2024 midseason where Lando Norris started to make inroads on Max Verstappen in terms of the championship fight, it seems fair to say that Red Bull's Dutch superstar has had a much harder time in Formula One than he—and many fans—might have anticipated.

A record-breaking 2023, where he won a mesmerizing 19 races and picked up his third championship, was followed by a much closer title race in 2024, where he claimed title number four. Then 2025 saw McLaren dominate the narrative, with Verstappen finishing second in the standings after a late-season surge.

2026 might see fans witness an even steeper Red Bull regression. A crash in qualifying for Verstappen at the Australian Grand Prix was followed by a retirement for teammate Isack Hadjar in the race, while China's sprint qualifying saw the Red Bull duo put their cars 8th and 10th.

Laurent Mekies tells Max Verstappen that Red Bull have 'a lot to learn'

Mekies has been the Red Bull team boss since 2025. | Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

While Sprint Qualifying 1 wasn't too stressful for either Red Bull, SQ2 saw both Verstappen and Hadjar on the cusp of elimination, with Nico Hulkenberg in 11th only 0.015 seconds behind Hadjar.

Q3 didn't offer much in the way of any true battles for Red Bull, as both cars seemed lacking when compared to Mercedes, Ferrari, and even McLaren—and led to Verstappen being out-qualified by Pierre Gasly in the seemingly rejuvenated Alpine, with Gasly putting the French team in seventh.

Maybe just as significant was the gap between both cars compared to session winner George Russell, with Verstappen 1.7 seconds off and Hadjar, now in his second race weekend for the team following his promotion from Racing Bulls, over two seconds behind the Briton.

We'll keep battling 👊

Max will start the Sprint from P8, with Isack attacking from P10 💙#F1 || #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/0hXqYnXUdT

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 13, 2026

Team principal Laurent Mekies was quick to give Verstappen a message, but it was not one that either side will want to hear again.

"Sorry, Max [Verstappen]... [It was a] tough one, a lot to learn—the weekend is still long, we need to learn from [this sprint qualifying]. Let's try again [in qualifying for Sunday]."

Mekies over team radio

Verstappen spoke to Sky Sports F1 regarding the lack of pace and seemed heavily displeased with where the team was at.

"No grip. That's the biggest problem - [the car has] no grip, no balance... just losing massive amounts of time in the corners. Then because of that, you start triggering other little problems, but the big problem for us is the cornering is completely out."

Verstappen's analysis