Max Verstappen fired a warning to his rivals over at McLaren to raise your game for the Chinese Grand Prix because he is hungrier than ever to resume battle and make amends for finishing - where he hates - P2 to Lando Norris.
Verstappen and Norris duked it out for the top spot at the 2025 Formula 1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. The pair are the class of the field and are likely to battle it out for the 2025 F1 crown this year. Melbourne was a glorious appetizer for what is to come.
And that is this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, Sprint Race format there should be little change in the pecking order which is McLaren ahead by at least half a second, even a second in race pace. Only the magic of Verstappen keeps the Red Bull in the hunt. And although the Dutchman's relentless pressure did not tell on Norris, it may have contributed to Oscar Paistri spinning out while McLaren duo were romping to a one-two.
In the Red Bull preview of the Shanghai weekend, Verstappen first reflected on his race-long duel to P2 in extremely challenging conditions this past Sunday in Australia: "It was good to kick off the season again and I enjoyed being back racing last week. The Team learnt a lot and in the end, I was pleased with P2, but there is still a lot we can improve on. The tyre degradation particularly impacted us in Melbourne, but we came away with a lot of learnings and ways to improve."
Red Bull has a strong history in China
Looking ahead the four-time F1 World Champion added: "It is the first Sprint weekend of the season so we need to make sure we have the best set up of the car possible and score as many points as we can. We don’t have a huge amount of time to turn everything around, especially with just one practice session, but the Team are working hard to improve.
"I have always enjoyed racing in Shanghai; there are lots of opportunities for overtaking here and the circuit has a unique layout so we will see what the weekend brings. Last weekend has only made me hungrier to go out there in Shanghai and give it my all," declared Verstappen.
Red Bull has an impressive history in China, with Sebastian Vettel securing the Team’s first pole and victory there, and Verstappen taking their 100th pole last year before converting it into a win. The Dutch ace has dominated Sprint races, winning 11 of 18 and collecting 111 points - 42 more than any other driver.
Heading to Shanghai for his 211th GP start, Verstappen is on a 22-race points streak, the eighth-longest in F1 history, and has only failed to score once in the last 66 race weekends.
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