Max Verstappen Exposes Key ‘Red Bull Car Issue’ Ahead of Chinese GP

Max Verstappen has revealed the issues that he faced with Red Bull's RB22 challenger in Australia and expects in China as well.

Max Verstappen Exposes Key ‘Red Bull Car Issue’ Ahead of Chinese GP

Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)

In Short
  • Max Verstappen highlighted tire degradation as a significant issue for Red Bull, affecting performance in the Australian GP.
  • He expressed concerns that similar tire issues could arise during the upcoming Chinese GP sprint weekend.
  • Verstappen emphasized the need for Red Bull to quickly adapt to the unique challenges of the Shanghai circuit.

Max Verstappen put forth one of the most impressive drives at the Australian GP. Despite suffering from a massive shunt in the Qualifying sessions and starting the race from P20, the Dutchman was able to ultimately finish in P6. However, his running was far from normal. Now, Verstappen opens up on the clear issues with Red Bull’s RB22 challenger in 2026.

Following the culmination of the Australian weekend, Max Verstappen revealed that tire degradation was a big issue for Red Bull. Though the Australian and Chinese circuits vary in terms of layout, Verstappen and Co. fear that similar issues might be witnessed at the upcoming race weekend. Regardless, the Dutchman often extracts the maximum out of the car, which was proved following his meteoric charge from P20 to P6.

Max Verstappen insisted that it was good to be back racing, especially because of the impressive comeback. The four-time champion highlighted that Red Bull did a great job of getting to where they currently are, but he noted that there was still a lot of ground to cover if they wanted to return to their winning ways.

It was good to be back racing again and it was promising to see us have a good comeback in the race, the team did a great job to get to where we are but there is still a lot to do and a lot of learnings that we can take on from that race.

Max Verstappen said, as reported by RacingNews365.

Further, Max Verstappen revealed that the tire degradation was something that affected Red Bull’s performance significantly. The Dutchman reckons that this might be a problem in the upcoming Chinese GP as well. Regardless, the team will continue to collect data and work on improving the challenger ahead of the upcoming race weekend.

We were particularly impacted by the tyre degradation in Melbourne, which can also be an issue at this circuit in Shanghai, and the deployment is something we can look at as well. We will continue to collect data and work on improving the car; we are still learning and we want to go into this week and be more in the fight.

Max Verstappen added.

Max Verstappen reveals the ‘challenges’ of the sprint weekend in China

The upcoming Chinese GP is a sprint weekend, which means that the drivers will only have one practice session before they hit the ground running. Given the complexities of the new regulations, it could prove to be a massive challenge for a majority of the teams and drivers. As such, Max Verstappen warns the grid about the upcoming challenges and what to expect over the race weekend.

Gianpiero Lambiase and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)
Gianpiero Lambiase and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)

Max Verstappen accepted that Red Bull needed to hit the ground running as soon as possible, especially because of the sprint weekend. The Dutchman pointed out that the Shanghai International Circuit was pretty unique, with quite a challenging track layout. Moreover, the variety of corners means that there will be plenty of overtaking opportunities, which is always a good sign.

Of course, it is a sprint weekend so we will have less time to work on the setup of the car, so we need to make sure we hit the ground running, the circuit is pretty unique, with quite a challenging track layout with a variety of different corners but with plenty of opportunities for overtaking.

Max Verstappen noted.

The 2026 season has just begun, and Max Verstappen is already looking forward to the challenge. He hasn’t lost hope in Red Bull yet. As such, time will tell about how Milton Keynes manages to develop over the season. For now, the team is still managing expectations. Moreover, Isack Hadjar’s mechanical DNF must be looked into to ensure that it doesn’t happen for the upcoming races.

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