Verstappen could get used to adjustment China: 'I like it!'

Max Verstappen finished the sprint race for the Chinese Grand Prix in third place after Oscar Piastri overtook him a few laps before the end. Verstappen started from P2 and thus finished in P3. Many drivers suffered from tyre degradation, including the Dutchman. After the sprint race, he indicated where the issue unravelled for him.

New asphalt has been laid in Shanghai, and Pirelli has also increased the tyre pressure prescriptions. Did that play a part for Verstappen? " I think all of that. But it's the same for everyone. But for sure, I mean, the tarmac is very good. I like it. It has a lot of grip, but it does seem that we are struggling a bit more with graining.

"Pressures went up a little bit as well. Probably that made it a bit more difficult for everyone. So it will be, I think, a very challenging race also tomorrow," Verstappen added.

ASsked when the tyre degradation started to kick in, the Dutchman was clear. "I would say like midway. You really started to feel that the deg was kicking in. Yeah, it just seemed a little bit more aggressive for us than maybe the cars around us.

"But I think that just comes from maybe also not having the base pace. You try to hang in there and you naturally just destroy your tyres a bit more. So to be in the top three, I think it's still a good result for us. I mean, we started a bit more ahead than I think we should have anyway, so I'm pretty pleased with hanging in," Verstappen concluded.