Anthony Davidson concerned by what he heard in Max Verstappen’s Chinese Grand Prix onboard

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Max Verstappen complained of drivability problems in Sprint qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, and Anthony Davidson clearly heard what he was talking about in Red Bull’s onboard footage.

Verstappen struggled in Friday’s session, only managing the eighth-fastest time. He was 1.7 seconds off polesitter George Russell, a sobering margin for Red Bull.

This was Verstappen’s worst-ever result in a Sprint qualifying session. Teammate Isack Hadjar was 10th, a further half a second back.

Ouch. How long will Red Bull need to catch Mercedes?

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Anthony Davidson heard Oscar Piastri-style ‘torque spike’ in Max Verstappen onboard

Verstappen described the drivability of his RB22 as ‘horrendous’ during the session and later complained that ‘we never had anything this bad’. He hardly took part in qualifying last time out in Australia as a locked rear axle speared him into the barriers.

Sky Sports pundit Davidson heard the evidence during a replay of an oversteer moment for Verstappen in SQ1. Oscar Piastri experienced a similarly violent ‘torque spike’ before crashing on the warm-up lap in Melbourne.

Davidson says that Verstappen is having to drive ‘on the defensive’ because he hasn’t established trust in this year’s car.

• READ MORE: Marc Priestley thinks Max Verstappen hated looking like an ‘amateur’ during the Australian GP

“Let’s have a listen to this,” he said. “Oh yeah, you could really hear it, couldn’t you, as he picked up the throttle. That’s the drivability he’s talking about. That’s the exit. That is a lot of power and deployment that he wasn’t expecting.

“We would refer to that usually as a torque spike. This is what we believe contributed to Oscar Piastri’s race-ending moment in Melbourne on the out-lap.

“It’s not nice. Every time you hit the brake pedal in any racing car, you need to know that the whole car is going to be there for you.

“As soon as you have any lack of confidence in its drivability, you start driving on the defensive. You need the car to be predictable, reliable and always do the same thing.”

Helmut Marko was right about Max Verstappen

Last weekend, Davidson said Verstappen was trying to drive like the ‘good old days’. There were times in practice where he was seemingly caught out by the reduced downforce.

Verstappen has made it abundantly clear that he isn’t enjoying the driving experience this year. While he says this isn’t linked to results, Red Bull’s lack of pace will only sour his mood further.

Helmut Marko says Verstappen won’t win the title in 2026, and while this is only round two out of 24, it’s hard to disagree in light of the enormous gap to Mercedes.

Red Bull’s rate of development should theoretically be higher than their rivals, though, because they are racing with their own power unit for the first time.