Max Verstappen says “too slow” Red Bull shouldn’t be on front row

Max Verstappen believes his Red Bull doesn’t belong on the front row for the F1 Chinese Grand Prix sprint race.

The reigning world champion will start second for Saturday’s sprint race in Shanghai after being narrowly beaten to pole position by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

Despite missing out on the fastest time by just 0.018s, Verstappen was delighted with his result, insisting his Red Bull does not have the inherent pace to warrant his P2 starting position.

"I'm very happy. In practice, we were quite a bit off so I'm very happy to be on the front row,” said the Dutchman, who was only 16th in Friday’s sole practice session.

"The lap was very good. It's always very tough when you go from a medium to soft with no references and when you look at it, 0.018s off pole, I don't even think we should have been on the front row anyway so I'm very happy to be second.

"The balance was not massively off. We were just too slow but this is good for us,” Verstappen continued.

“A little motivation boost for everyone that we keep nailing the laps and maximising everything you have got and you need to do that as well when you are struggling a bit more for pace.”

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris could only take third and sixth, but Verstappen still doesn’t think the Red Bull is quick enough to challenge the McLaren duo.

"They looked very fast up until that last run, so it will be hard to keep them behind,” he insisted. “Hopefully it will be fun and we can race a bit, that would be nice for me.”

Contrasting fortunes for Red Bull drivers 

Verstappen’s new teammate Liam Lawson suffered a disastrous qualifying and was eliminated in SQ1 with the slowest time, meaning he will start 20th and last for the sprint race.

The result means that former F1 title rivals Hamilton and Verstappen will share the front row of the grid.

"Verstappen vs Hamilton into Turn 1, Piastri in behind. What can Norris do? I'm pumped,” said Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok.