No points for Red Bull in Chinese Grand Prix sprint race

Red Bull did not score points in the sprint race as part of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

Max Verstappen finished 9th, one place off taking the final points place from the Haas of Oliver Bearman. Meanwhile, his teammate Isack Hadjar finished 15th, having suffered damage in an opening lap collision.

With one race and one sprint down, Verstappen sits in 6th in the Driver’s Championship, while Hadjar is still awaiting his first points of 2026. Red Bull sit 4th in the Constructor’s Championship, with the team already 47 points behind leaders Mercedes.

The sprint race at the Shanghai International Circuit got off to a bad start for Red Bull as both cars had problems off the line. Verstappen had a deployment issue off the start and dropped down the order, losing several places and falling to near the back of the grid.

Meanwhile, Hadjar would suffer first lap damage after he was hit into turn 6 by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who had been attempting to recover after starting slowly in his Mercedes.

As the 19-lap sprint progressed, both Red Bulls had originally made some progress through the field, but both Hadjar and Verstappen suffered with tyre graining, with the two cars’ momentum stalling. Along the way, Verstappen would get past Hadjar.

Red Bull opted to pit both cars for new tyres when in the late stages of the race, the safety car was deployed after Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi broke down into turn one.

On new soft tyres, Verstappen was able to make some progress in bypassing midtable cars, only to be unable to get past Bearman to take a point. Hadjar’s damage continued to impede him, however, and he crossed the line in 15th.

The full-distance Chinese Grand Prix takes place tomorrow (15/03), with qualifying having taken place today a few hours after the sprint race. Red Bull will start from 8th and 9th on the grid.