Verstappen: ‘I was just trying to survive' in Chinese Sprint

Max Verstappen conceded that a lack of pace in his Red Bull made the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint a battle for survival as he finished third to Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri.

Verstappen qualified alongside Hamilton on the front row for the first Sprint of the season but was unable to leap his rival into the first corner.

Remaining just over one second behind the Ferrari for the majority of the first 10 laps, the Dutchman began to suffer as his front tyres faded, dropping behind McLaren’s Piastri on Lap 15 before fading further in the closing laps.

Labelling the points return as a “positive”, Verstappen said: “I tried to give it a go because I also had Oscar behind me pushing, so I was trying to keep in that DRS – that helps a lot on the back straight.

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 22: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Scuderia Ferrari SF-25 — Verstappen was unable to jump Hamilton at the start

“Unfortunately, I think the last eight laps, I would say, we just didn’t have the pace to the others so I was just trying to survive out there.

“I definitely take that P3 – even the cars behind were catching up quite a lot. It was tough out there to manage the tyres somehow, but it’s okay. We’ll try to do better.”

Verstappen eventually crossed the line 9.804s shy of Hamilton and 2.915s off Piastri.

With Qualifying for the Grand Prix taking place just a few hours after the conclusion of the Sprint, there is little time to make changes to the car to better protect the tyres or dial in extra pace.

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 22: Second placed Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren Sprint winner — Hamilton dominated the Sprint

Asked if the Sprint had given him the information he needed to make such changes, Verstappen added: “We’ll try to make it better. We’ll look into the data, see what we can improve a bit on the car, but I think in general we just lack a bit of overall pace.

“Naturally, you have to push harder and you kill your tyres a bit more, so that makes it very difficult.”