Max Verstappen says Chinese Grand Prix Friday is a disaster after tough Sprint Qualifying

But what was alarming wasn't the position in which the four-time Formula 1 qualified but the gap to pole, which was around 1.7s.

Verstappen was heard over the team radio during Sprint Qualifying complaining about the gear shifts in his RB22 as well as the driveability of his Red Bull Ford power unit.

Speaking after the session, the Dutchman did not hold back; he said: “The whole day has been a disaster, pace-wise.

“Yeah, no grip," he went on. "Honestly, I think that’s the biggest problem—no grip, no balance, just losing massive amounts of time in the corners, to be honest.

"Then, of course, because of that, you start to trigger other little problems. But the big problem for us is just the cornering is completely out," he pointed out.

Red Bull had one session to set their car up, and their Technical Director, Pierre Wache, said on the team's social media channel that they took a risk with the setup that did not pay off.

While the team cannot change the setup of their RB22 for the Sprint Race, Red Bull are free to apply changes for Qualifying and the Grand Prix.

Verstappen was asked if that would be a chance to try something different; he said: “We’ll have a look. I don’t know at the moment what we can do. We’ll see.”

On the other hand, Red Bull Racing boss Laurent Mekies had nothing else to say to his star driver but to apologize for the team's mishap with the setup.

"Sorry, Max," the Frenchman said over the radio. "Tough one, a lot to learn. The weekend is still long; we need to learn from [Sprint Qualy]. Let's try again." (Reporting by Agnes Carlier)