During the Drivers’ Press Conference ahead of the F1 Chinese GP, Max Verstappen discussed his thoughts on the potential of the Red Bull for 2026. The four-time World Champion also spoke on the main issues they faced at the Australian GP last week and how these can be solved.
Verstappen reflects on the first race of the 2026 F1 season
Max Verstappen started the Australian GP in P20 after crashing out of qualifying at turn 1 in Q1. The 28-year old was able to bring his car through the field during Sundays race and finished in P6. During the Drivers’ Press Conference ahead of the F1 Chinese GP, the 71-time race winner reflected on his performance and how much potential the RB22 has for the 2026 F1 season.
“Yeah, I mean, for sure there is a lot of potential. It’s just going to depend, of course, on if we can extract that, I guess, throughout the year.
“The gap, of course, was quite big and also in the race. I think if I would have started, let’s say, a little bit up front. I think the best that I could have done was one spot higher. Because we didn’t have the pace of the top four cars.
“We also had a lot of degradation and graining. But yes, we’ll see. We’ll see what happens in the coming races, if we can close that gap a little bit.”
The pace of the Mercedes was a big talking point of the Australian GP. They had a 0.8-1s gap between the rest of the field in qualifying and the race saw a 15 second gap between Russell and Leclerc in P3.
During the press conference, Verstappen discussed whether this gap would be recreated by Mercedes at the Chinese GP or if they will be able to close it.
“Impossible to know. Honestly, it’s such a jungle out there at the moment. I think that it’s very hard to really know. I would hope that it gets a bit closer. Not even bigger than the gap that it was in Melbourne. But it’s clear that at the moment we cannot fight with those cars.
Max Verstappen on taking part in the Nürburgring 24 hour race
Earlier this week, Verstappen announced he was making his Nürburgring 24 hour race debut with Verstappen Racing and Mercedes AMG. Verstappen has shown his love of driving GT3 cars in the past by taking part in race stints in the NLS.
Ahead of the F1 Chinese GP, Max Verstappen discussed how important it is that he gets to race cars that he enjoys driving when he isn’t gettting that in F1 at the moment. The Dutchman also weighed in on the questions surrounding the 2026 Saudi Arabian GP being cancelled or not due to the conflict in the Middle East. The same weekend, an NLS qualifier is taking place, meaning Verstappen may be able to take part.
“Well, I mean, this was of course already planned regardless of what I’m driving this year.
“Yeah, I mean, I wish I had a bit more fun at the moment, of course, here. But at the same time I’m also very happy that the team here. They let me do all these things, and yeah. It’s just something that I’m of course looking forward to.
“And besides that, if something happens with the calendar, I’ll have a look what’s possible.”
“I don’t want to do them when i’m 40”: Max Verstappen comments on exploring other things at the 2026 F1 Chinese GP
At the 2026 F1 Australian GP, the fastest lap in Qualifying was 1 minute 18.518 seconds. At the 2025 Australian GP, it was 1 minute 15.096 seconds. The 2025 qualifying lap was 3.422 seconds faster than this year. The 2026 regualtions have significantly slowed the speed of the cars.
Following the announcement of Vestappen’s participation in the Nürburgring 24 hour race, the Red Bull driver was asked at the drivers press conference, whether speed is related to his enjoyment for racing.
“Not really, because then the pleasure would be still very high here, right, because it’s the highest speed. But it’s just a way of working with people.
“It’s a bit of a different environment as well that you’re in in the paddock, I would say. Probably a little bit more old-school, less political, which probably I enjoy a bit more. Yeah, I can probably be a bit more myself. So yeah, that’s what I enjoy. Plus of course these races, like all the big endurance ones, I want to do.
“It’s something that when I was a kid as well my dad was doing. And yeah, I think I don’t need to be only a Formula 1 driver. I can also do other things, especially I’ve done this already for a while and I’ve achieved everything that I wanted to achieve. So that’s why I want to explore also other things.
“And I don’t want to do them when I’m 40 years old. So now I think this is the perfect age to do it.”
Verstappen on solving the issues seen at the 2026 F1 Australian GP ahead of the Chinese round
Many cars suffered from low or empty battery at the start of the Australian GP. This made the start quite dangerous for some drivers. As well as this, Red Bull suffered a lot more tyre graining compared to Mercedes, who only pitted once, while Verstappen pitted twice.
At the 2026 F1 Chinese GP, Max Verstappen discussed how realistic it is for these problems to be solved quickly.
“There are a few simple solutions. But they need to be allowed by the FIA with the battery-related stuff. Because, yes, starting with a 0% battery is not a lot of fun and also quite dangerous.
“So, we are in discussions with them to see what can be done because you could see, I mean, we almost had a massive shunt in Melbourne in the start.
“Now some of that is related to batteries. Some, of course, can happen with an anti-stall. But you could see a lot of big speed differences because I was not the only car that had almost, let’s say, no battery, or 20, 30 percent. This is something that I think can be easily fixed.”
Max Verstappen on the new regulations and his future in F1
The 28-year old has said that the new F1 cars are ‘more like Mario Kart’, this, along with his complaints over the car have raised questions regarding his future in the sport. During the drivers’ press conference, Verstappen was asked whether he would walk away from the sport.
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t want to leave really. Like I said, I wish I had a bit more fun for sure, but I’m also doing other stuff that is a lot of fun.
“I mean, I get to race the Nordschleife. I Hope in the coming years I can do Spa, hopefully Le Mans. So, I’m combining stuff to find other stuff that I find really fun as well.
“Of course, my team going on, so I have a lot of distractions at the same time. Positive distractions I would call it. But at the same time, it’s a bit conflicting because I don’t really enjoy driving the car, but I do enjoy working with all the people in the team and from the engine department as well.
“So no, I don’t want to leave, but I also hope of course that it gets better. And I know, I mean, I’ve had discussions with FOM and FIA and I think we are working towards something, hopefully, and hopefully that will improve everything.”
Many drivers have complained about the new 2026 regulations. Ahead of the F1 Chinese GP, Verstappen was asked about what he has been discussing with the FIA and how he thinks the new regulations can be imporved to make the sport more fun.
“I definitely hope not for the next few years, but I hope already for next year we can already make a decent improvement. But there are a few options that we are discussing.”
