Max Verstappen secured third place in the Chinese GP Sprint Race, unable to mount a serious challenge against race winner Lewis Hamilton. Despite staying within DRS range in the early stages, Verstappen ultimately struggled with tyre degradation, which cost him second place to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in the closing laps.
Close but not close enough
At the start of the race, Verstappen remained within striking distance of Hamilton, running about a second behind the Ferrari driver. On a few occasions, he managed to get within DRS range, keeping the pressure on his former title rival.
However, pushing to stay close took a toll on his tyres. As the laps progressed, Verstappen found himself losing grip, which allowed Piastri to overtake him on Lap 15. The degradation was so severe that George Russell and Charles Leclerc also closed in significantly by the chequered flag.
Max Verstappen: “I was just trying to survive”
After the race, Verstappen admitted that he was simply managing his car to the finish in the final laps, as his Red Bull lacked the pace to compete with Ferrari and McLaren over a full stint.
“I mean, if you look at it like that, I think it is positive,” Verstappen reflected. “Of course, I tried to give it a go because I also had Oscar behind me pushing. So, I was trying to keep him at DRS, that helps a lot on the back straight.”
“But unfortunately, yeah, I think the last eight laps, I would say, we just didn’t have the pace to the others. So, I was just trying to survive out there.”
Despite the late drop-off, Verstappen was satisfied with securing third place, given the challenge he faced in maintaining his tyres.
“I definitely take that P3. Even the cars behind were catching up quite a lot. It was tough out there to manage the tyres somehow. But it’s okay. We’ll try to do better.”
Verstappen and Red Bull face an uphill battle for the Chinese GP after Sprint
Looking ahead to the full-length Chinese GP, Verstappen expressed concerns about Red Bull’s overall performance. With Shanghai’s high tyre wear and graining proving to be major factors, the Dutchman acknowledged that clean air was crucial, as demonstrated by Hamilton’s Sprint Race win.
While Red Bull remains a strong contender, Ferrari and McLaren appear to have the edge in both short and long-run pace, making Verstappen’s chances of victory more uncertain.
“We’ll try to make it better,” he said. “We’ll look into the data, see what we can improve a bit on the car. But I think, in general, we just lack a bit of overall pace.”
“And then naturally you have to push a bit harder, you kill your tyres a bit more. That makes it very difficult.”
With Red Bull on the back foot, Verstappen will need a strong strategy and better tyre management to fight for victory in Sunday’s race.
