Red Bull Racing has been facing a challenging weekend so far at the Formula 1 Chinese GP, with Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar finding difficulties in both the Sprint race and the qualifying session.
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Verstappen finished the Sprint race in 9th and secured 8th place on the grid for the main GP. The Dutch driver commented on the problems faced: “It has been a difficult weekend so far. In the Sprint, we had a complicated start, which compromised the race, but we know what went wrong and we had some issues with tire graining and the car’s balance. In the qualifying session, we changed the car quite a bit, but unfortunately it didn’t make much difference. It’s quite tricky at the moment and it’s hard to find a good reference, so every lap is challenging. We had similar problems to the Sprint, so there will be a lot to analyze and work on overnight. I hope that tomorrow we can be a bit more competitive, but let’s see what happens,” the Dutchman stated.
Hadjar, who finished the Sprint in 15th and will start 9th in the GP, highlighted the progress made by the team, but also the challenges that persist: “The team worked hard to improve performance compared to yesterday, and I felt I extracted everything I could from the car. We managed to find a bit more pace, but lap-to-lap consistency has been harder to maintain. In the Sprint, everything was going well until the contact, which makes it harder to have a reading for tomorrow’s race. Coming out of the qualifying session, it’s a good feeling to be close to Max, but at the same time we would like to fight for better positions. 9th place is still a decent result to fight for positions, even if it’s not exactly where we wanted to be. Tomorrow my goal is to score my first points for the team. It will be a difficult race, but we will do our best,” he added.
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Red Bull is now concentrating its efforts on analyzing the weekend’s data and adjusting the cars’ performance for the main race, seeking to overcome the balance and consistency issues that have marked the stage so far.
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