Red Bull had a difficult start to the sprint weekend in China. Max Verstappen qualified only eighth for the sprint race, while teammate Isack Hadjar could manage no better than tenth. Team principal Laurent Mekies took responsibility afterwards and apologized for the lack of pace for Verstappen. According to the Frenchman, the team struggled with problems all day and simply couldn’t get the RB22 into competitive shape.
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“I’m sorry, Max, this is a very tough one,” came the message over the team radio immediately after sprint qualifying. Team principal Laurent Mekies apologized to the four-time world champion, who had complained about the drivability of his Red Bull car. “The weekend is still long, so we must also learn from this,” he urged Verstappen. “Let’s try again.”
Challenging weekend
“This was definitely a very difficult day, right from the first lap in the first free practice,” Mekies later admitted in an interview with Viaplay. During the practice hour, both Red Bull drivers were already far behind the competition. “We just couldn’t get the car to work and completely missed the mark,” he explained. “We had many different problems, which added up and also cost us speed.”
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According to Mekies, the low track temperatures also played a role, making it difficult to get the tires to the right temperature. As a result, Red Bull remained on the back foot throughout the sprint qualifying session. Max Verstappen repeatedly complained about the lack of grip and went off track several times. In that regard, the team principal acknowledged that the team faces a significant challenge for the rest of the weekend. “The weekend is still long, but we have a lot of work to do,” said the Frenchman. When asked if Red Bull can still solve the problems, he remained cautious. “Time will tell. The gap to our competitors has grown enormously compared to a few days ago in Melbourne. It is up to us to understand what is wrong. How can we bring everything together better and get more out of the package?”
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