‘Every lap is survival’: Max Verstappen reflects on F1 Chinese GP qualifying woe

‘Every lap is a fight. It’s just very difficult,’ said a down-in-the-dumps Max Verstappen of his struggle to control his Red Bull car. Photograph: EYE4images/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Max Verstappen condemned his Red Bull’s performance as having reduced his efforts to a matter of “survival” in merely trying to complete a lap in Shanghai.

From the off the four-time champion had not been happy in the buildup to Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, dismissing his car on Friday as undriveable and saying: “We have never had anything this bad.”