“It’s going to be a long stint”: Max Verstappen foresees tough Sprint after underwhelming Qualifying

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen claimed that it would be a long stint on one set of tires in the Sprint race on Saturday after he finished P4 in the Sprint Qualifying at the 2024 Chinese GP.

The three-time world champion had a turbulent SQ3 as he could not get his RB20 to stay on track in wet conditions at the Shanghai International Circuit. The Dutchman was comfortably the quickest driver on the track in the first two sessions as it was dry but usually struggled to find the grip in the final session.

Speaking with Sky Sports, Max Verstappen pointed out that starting in P4 won't be ideal due to the lack of grip, saying:

"It's not ideal to start on the inside here, there's a lot lower grip left to right with this painted stuff on the tarmac, so we have to try and have the best start possible.

"Then I think it's going to be quite a long stint on one set of tires in the Sprint, but that makes it quite interesting I think."

Max Verstappen analyzes his Sprint Qualifying session

Max Verstappen stated that the Sprint Qualifying was very tricky for him, describing the conditions as 'driving on ice'.

As quoted by the aforementioned source, the Red Bull driver said:

"It was incredibly slippery. I just struggled a lot to get the temperature in the tyres so that's why it was very difficult to keep the car on track. It never really switched on for me, it was like driving on ice.

"That's why it's also quite deserved where we are in qualifying, it just wasn't really working for me in the wet. Even though in the dry I think we look quite good, so I'm of course quite happy with that."

Max Verstappen finished over two seconds behind the pole sitter Lando Norris in the McLaren and will start behind the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

The track has been painted and due to the lack of any running, the conditions have been quite slippery, with the rain adding another layer of difficulty in terms of handling for the drivers.

It would be fascinating to see if Verstappen gets a better grip on his car if the conditions are similar to the Sprint Qualifying or if he would run away from the field in the dry conditions despite starting from the second row.