Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is not expecting “night and day difference” in his race performance at 2025 Chinese Grand Prix.
Verstappen finished third in the Chinese Sprint after his medium tyres suffered heavy degradation and he was passed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri for second on Lap 15.
The reigning four-time champion then fell 0.176 seconds shy of pole in Qualifying as he managed fourth on the grid for the main Grand Prix, which he put down to grip issues and a lack of pace.
“We were just a bit too slow today and I think we had quite a big gap to those out in front. It is quite difficult as we were really struggling for grip, which didn’t allow me to push hard.
“In some corners we had different balance, so it was hard to get good references for every single lap. I think it will likely be quite similar to tomorrow and tough on tyres. I tried to do the best that we could and get the best lap possible, but it wasn’t easy.”
Verstappen though warned that he isn’t expecting a huge improvement in his GP race performance compared to the Sprint such is his car’s pace.
“We will try and maximise everything that we can and the Team will work hard to make some changes in the car that I hope will make things better for the race.
“I don’t expect a night and day difference as we lack race performance and it will be difficult to keep up with the cars ahead, but we will see ahead of tomorrow.”
