Max Verstappen, a four-time world champion, qualified eighth for the Chinese Grand Prix, almost a second off Kimi Antonelli's pole time. This follows a difficult start to the week for Red Bull, with neither Verstatten nor teammate Isack Hadjar scoring a point in the sprint race. Verstastappen has been outspoken criticising F1's new cars, which feature a 50-50 split between combustion and electrical power. He said his lack of comfort with the car means he has no idea how much performance there is to unlock with it.