Verstappen Details Car Issue That Halted His Progress Early In China Sprint

Sunday, 21 April 2024 at 07:30

Max Verstappen described the problems that he struggled with during the opening stages of the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Race.

The triple World Champion didn't have the optimal starting position for the Sprint Race at Shanghai International Circuit as he qualified in P4.

On the other hand, we've seen Verstappen rapidly climb up the order in the past from much worse positions. However, he initially lost a considerable amount of time due to issues with his battery pack.

The 26-year-old explained that he ran out of battery power and couldn't recharge it. He also came under pressure from Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, which complicated the situation. Speaking to the media after the sprint race, Verstappen said:

"Of course, some people around me started on new Mediums, and of course, around here, it was a bit more of a peak in the tire because they deg off quite a bit."

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"So the first two laps, I had to really defend, but at the same time also, my battery ran out. It was not charging, basically. So I had to do some changes on the steering wheel."

For a while, it seemed like the Red Bull Racing driver wouldn't be able to challenge for the win, but he was able to get the issue fixed and showed the real pace of his RB20.

Verstappen closed the gap and overtook both Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton to take the lead of the race. Then, he created a gap of 13 seconds between himself and the seven-time World Champion in second place in only ten laps! He added:

"And then, of course, it also takes two or three laps before you have a bit of battery back in the pack, and then my pace started to pick up because, before that, I was just clipping a lot and losing a lot of top speed."

"So once I had that all under control and then also the peak of the new tire was a bit gone, basically, I could ease up to Fernando, get him, then ease to Lewis and just rely on the pace of the car."