Verstappen ‘lost for words’ after ‘everything went wrong’ in China F1 sprint

Max Verstappen says Red Bull has to “get our stuff together” after “everything that could go wrong went wrong” in the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix sprint.

The four-time world champion slumped from eighth on the grid to 14th on the opening lap of Saturday morning’s sprint, after he got bogged down off the line at the start.

Max Verstappen battled “uncontrollable” tyre degradation as he tried to mount a recovery, with even a late safety car allowing for a pitstop doing nothing to help boost him into the points.

He was ninth at the chequered flag, 11.619s from sprint winner George Russell in the Mercedes.

With qualifying for the grand prix following later today, Verstappen has highlighted numerous issues for Red Bull to get on top of.

“I’ve not a lot of words at the moment, to be honest,” he told Sky F1.

“Everything that could go wrong went wrong.

“So, yeah, start of course is one problem we have to fix.

“But, after that, the balance is all over the place.

“It’s probably the highest degradation of everyone out there, which was just uncontrollable, plus some other bits on the car that were not well-prepared.

“So, we just need to get our stuff together.”

Hadjar ‘learned nothing’ in compromised sprint

Red Bull’s difficult sprint also extended to Isack Hadjar, who was left with damage to his car after contact from Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Antonelli was given a 10-second time penalty for the clash, but still finished fifth, while Hadjar was a distant 15th, marking Red Bull's first sprint without points since the format was introduced. 

“Yeah, I mean, I think everything went to plan in the first sector,” he told Sky F1.

“Then Kimi completely outbraked himself and we had damage for the remainder of the race.

“It was a bit painful to drive. We didn’t learn anything.”

Red Bull’s leading driver from its stable proved to be Liam Lawson in the Racing Bull, who was seventh at the chequered flag.