Max Verstappen stated that for him to stand any chance of winning at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, his competitors would need to drop out.

The current World Champion begins the Chinese Grand Prix from the fourth spot on the starting grid after engaging in the battle for pole position during Q3 of the qualifying session.

Max Verstappen: Red Bull Is Putting In Effort To Improve

Following their adept exploitation of opportunities to maintain pressure on McLaren during the race in Australia last weekend, Verstappen narrowly fell short of securing pole position in the Sprint Qualifying. There, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton edged past him by less than two-hundredths of a second.

During the 19-lap Sprint race, Verstappen dropped to third position due to tyre wear allowing Oscar Piastri’s McLaren to overtake him. However, prior to the main event—the Grand Prix—teams had the opportunity to modify their car settings after this race, which provided some adjustments heading into the qualification rounds.

Verstappen remained consistently close during qualifying, advancing through Q1 with his initial hotlap attempt as
Red Bull
took a chance by conserving a set of tires for use later in the session.

In the second quarter, Lando Norris began tackling his disheveled weekends by clocking the quickest time of the event so far, with Verstappen trailing behind by three-tenths of a second, securing the second spot.

Piastri secured Q3 by setting a new lap record at 1:30.641, beating Mercedes’ George Russell by 0.082 seconds. Norris came in third, followed by Verstappen, who trailed behind the top spot by 0.176 seconds.

Although their one-lap speed isn’t much different, Verstappen got a better understanding of the Red Bull’s race pace from the Sprint. He feels that for him to stand a chance at winning the Chinese Grand Prix, he will require some issues to affect the drivers in front of him.

“If they all step back in front of my eyes,” he said.

Sky F1

When questioned about what he requires to secure victory.

Presuming Verstappen was being humorous, presenter Rachel Brookes mentioned that audiences “know him better than that,” but he stood firm on his position nonetheless.

No, I disagree. We aren’t quick enough.

I believe the lap was okay, but quite challenging to achieve a consistently balanced performance each time around, through every single turn.

“It was challenging, but we’re tackling it. We aim to improve.”

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“Not satisfactory,” Liam Lawson concedes, “I simply don’t have the time” following a challenging Red Bull qualifying session.

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After Red Bull put significant effort into transforming the RB21 into a less temperamental vehicle by shifting focus from attaining maximum power to broadening the operational range of their system, these adjustments aimed at increasing compliance have paid off—Verstappen has repeatedly mentioned his high comfort level when driving the car.

He mentioned this trend continues in China, however, his direct performance still hasn’t reached a level where he can contend for victory purely based on speed alone.

“I feel at ease, you could say — quite confident when attacking corners, but occasionally my inputs aren’t reflected accurately by how the car responds,” he explained.

Thus, managing every aspect becomes rather challenging. Additionally, during the race, even when you’re not pushing hard, you might still be wearing out your tires faster than the vehicles surrounding you, which isn’t optimal.

I likely feel back in top form when it comes to driving, you know, better than I did even in the preceding years.

I have this feeling where I’m acing my qualifiers with great lap times; I think I’m performing well. So far during the race, we’ve been carrying out all our plans perfectly. But when our fundamental speed isn’t up to par, there really isn’t much we can do about it, huh?

When asked if he finds it frustrating to consistently put in top efforts but still fall short of his goals, the Dutch racer responded, “My main concentration is on my own performance, ensuring I won’t have regrets about how I’ve driven. Thus, I’m working to utilize every opportunity available and aiming to assist the team in enhancing the vehicle. That’s our current priority.”

It hasn’t reached my desired level yet. While it’s hard to quantify with a specific figure or percentage, it’s evident that it isn’t at the point we’re aiming for.

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“Not satisfied with my performance,” Liam Lawson confesses, “I lack the time” following a challenging Red Bull qualifying session.