Max Verstappen fumes over “undriveable” Red Bull in furious sprint qualifying radio

Max Verstappen issued a damning verdict of his Red Bull car over team radio following the season's first sprint qualifying in China.

It was once again George Russell leading a Mercedes one-two in a 2026 qualifying session, with the Brit looking to extend his advantage in the driver's championship.

The Merceded were followed by Lando Norris in third, with Ferrari only managing fourth and sixth after abandoning their 'macarena' wing update.

Verstappen endured a nightmare start to the season in Melbourne, starting 20th after crashing out of qualifying, and his fortunes didn't change much in Shanghai.

The Dutchman managed to keep his Red Bull out of the gravel, but could only manage eighth and was a whopping 1.7 seconds off Russell on sprint pole.

After four consecutive world titles and the most dominant season in F1 history, Verstappen isn't one to accept an uncompetitive car and claimed it was his worst car ever over team radio.

"I can't. This is undriveable, we never had anything this bad," the 28-year-old said over radio.

Max Verstappen following China sprint qualifying (credit: getty)

Speaking to the media after the session, Verstappen doubled down on his radio comments claiming the Red Bull suffers a significant lack of grip compared to the leading teams.

"No, I mean the whole day has been a disaster pace-wise," Verstappen said via Sky Sports.

"So yeah, no grip. Honestly, I think that's the biggest problem, no grip, no balance, just losing massive amounts of time in the corners to be honest.

"And then, of course, because of that, you start triggering other little problems, but the big problem for us is just the cornering is completely out."

Verstappen has often been known to come alive when it matters most, and with main qualifying still to come there are still opportunities, however, he wasn't convinced the situation will improve.

"We'll have a look I don't know at the moment what we can do, but yeah, we'll see," he added.