Resigned Max Verstappen in China: “The car is undriveable” as Laurent Mekies apologizes on team radio. Max Verstappen struggled in the Shanghai Sprint Qualifying.

Max Verstappen managed only the eighth-fastest time in Sprint Qualifying, finishing 1.734 seconds behind George Russell in the Mercedes.

Red Bull struggles deepen

Day by day, Max Verstappen’s mood worsens. He’s not only dealing with a car he dislikes but also with an RB22 that doesn’t seem capable of delivering the performance he wants. Today’s Sprint Qualifying in Shanghai was a step back compared to Australia, where the Dutchman had mounted an impressive recovery from 20th to 6th in the race. This time, the four-time Formula 1 world champion could do no better than eighth, losing a massive gap to George Russell and even finishing behind Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.

Verstappen vents on radio

After SQ3, Max Verstappen expressed his frustration and resignation via radio, highlighting the driving difficulties of his car. I can’t. This [car] is undrivable. We’ve never had anything this bad, declared the four-time world champion, speaking with his race engineer Giampiero Lambiase.

Shortly after, Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies intervened over the radio to apologize to Verstappen for the car’s issues. Sorry, Max. It’s been tough. There’s a lot to learn. The weekend is still long, we need to take lessons from this. We’ll try again. Max Verstappen, however, did not respond.

The total lack of response from Max Verstappen following Mekies’ apology speaks volumes about the tension currently brewing within the Red Bull garage. While the 2026 regulations have shuffled the deck, seeing a champion of Max Verstappen’s caliber finishing nearly two seconds off the pace on a “pure” driving track like Shanghai suggests a fundamental disconnect between the simulator data and the real-world track surface. If the RB22 is indeed the “worst” car the team has produced in this era, the path back to the podium will require more than just marginal gains; it will require a complete overhaul of the mechanical platform. As the Sprint Race approaches, the focus for the former dominant force isn’t on winning, but on simply keeping the car on the track and avoiding a further slide down the midfield order. The weekend is indeed long, but for Max Verstappen, it likely feels longer than most.