Red Bull is known for their exuberant marketing campaigns, most of which include the athletes risking their lives to achieve a record. One of these records was driving an F1 car on the highest motorable pass in the world, where the Red Bull team drove on ice with snow chains. Looks like Max Verstappen badly needed those snow chains this afternoon in Shanghai as the return to China left a sour taste in the Dutchman’s mouth.
Max Verstappen came into the Chinese GP with brimming confidence from the Japanese GP and a 1-2 finish. And the Red Bull looked quick in the practice, although the team did not show its true pace. In the dry conditions during the SQ1 and SQ2, Red Bull looked rapid as Sergio Perez finished SQ1 at the top and Max Verstappen finished SQ2 at the top. However, it all went south when the rain hit the tracks.
Max Verstappen is arguably one of the best drivers in the rain alongside Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. His Red Bull, however, seemed to struggle in the wets, as the Dutchman was going off the track everywhere. It seemed as if there was no grip to be found for him and the racer had to settle for P4. Despite trying out the various lines, the Dutchman couldn’t put it on the pole. And now, after the Sprint Qualifying, Max Verstappen has come out to suggest that it felt like he was driving on ice.
During the post-race interview, he said, “It was incredibly slippery. I just struggled a lot to get the temperature into the tires. That was why it was so difficult to keep the car on track. It [the tires] never really switched on for me. It was like driving on ice, and that is why, it’s quite deserved where we are in qualifying. It was not really working for me in the wet, and in the dry, we looked quite good.”
And while Red Bull looks strong in dry weather, the majority of the weekend is going to take place under wet or damp conditions. And Helmut Marko did warn the team about exactly that coming into the Chinese GP.
“Another Surprise”: Helmut Marko warns Christian Horner and Co. regarding the Chinese GP
The track in China has been recently resurfaced with gravel traps added in place of run-off areas. And with it being a sprint weekend plagued with rainfall, teams will have limited time to set up the car. As a result, Helmut Marko warned Red Bull to not have a repeat of the Australian GP, where the team underestimated the tire wear and went down the order. The taskmaster is just keeping others around him in check.
According to Motorsport-Total.com, Helmut Marko said, “We haven’t been to China for three or four years. And I hope that we don’t have a surprise there like in Melbourne, [where] the road surface was so aggressive, where we were completely wrong when it came to tire wear, which in and of itself is one of our strengths. There could perhaps be another surprise in this direction. But we have been warned by Melbourne and I think we now know more about how to react.”
