Verstappen not in the top three: 'It's deserved'

Max Verstappen was aiming for pole position for the sprint race in China but ultimately had to settle for the fourth fastest time in the sprint shootout. The Red Bull Racing driver exceeded track limits in the first two laps and eventually only had one run to clock a time. That resulted in P4.

"It was incredibly slippery," Verstappen said in a conversation shown on Sky Sports. About four minutes before the end of SQ2, it started drizzling heavily and by the start of SQ3, the track had become slippery as hell. There was virtually no grip and that made it a struggle for the world championship leader to keep his RB20 in line.

"I struggled to get the temperature in the tyres. It was difficult to keep the car on the track. It never switched on for me. It felt like I was driving on ice," explained the Dutchman. "I think that's why it's deserved where we are in this qualifying. It didn't work for me in the wet conditions. I do think we looked good in the dry, so I am happy with that."

Verstappen aims for win in sprint race

Starting from P4, Verstappen hopes to have another shot at sprint victory on Saturday. In doing so, a good start will be key, although the 26-year-old driver will start on the dirty side of the track. "It is not ideal to start on the inside here, because there is much less grip. We need to have the best start possible and then it will be a long stint on one set of tyres in the sprint. That will make it very interesting," Verstappen concluded his story.