Verstappen delighted with performance in the final leg of the Chinese Grand Prix

Following a tough start to the 56-lap race in Shanghai, Max Verstappen displayed a very competitive performance in the closing stages of the Chinese Grand Prix, albeit he conceded that Red Bull still has a lot of work to do to make the RB21 easier to drive.

Max Verstappen grabbed a podium place in Saturday's sprint race at Shanghai, but he endured a tough start to the Chinese Grand Prix. The reigning champion had a very slow getaway, and as a result of it he dropped back behind the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

The four-time champion struggled on the mediums in the first stint as he was unable to keep up with his closest rivals. However, in the final stint on the hards as the fuel levels dropped, Verstappen suddenly found some decent speed to force Hamilton into an unplanned second stop beofre picking off Charles Leclerc to finish fourth in Shanghai.

"Today the beginning of the race was quite tough on mediums," Verstappen started his assessment. "We set out to do our pace, which was a fair bit slower than the cars around us as we were working to try not to destroy our tyres.

"On the hard tyre, it was a tough beginning, but on the second stint the performance was a lot more promising and we were seeing a lot more pace in the car. The last 19 laps were more positive and better than expected as we were having equal lap times to the front runners. We were handling the car better and had a lot more grip on the tyres, so everything looked more hopeful and it was more fun to drive."

The Dutchman sounded a positive note when assessing his chances for the next round which will take place at the famous Suzuka circuit.

"We can take a lot of lessons from this weekend and hopefully this means that we can see a better performance in Japan, especially on a circuit that I really enjoy driving at.

"We do still have a lot of work to do, as we are not where we want to be and our car is not that easy to drive, but at least the final stint was more promising and there is a lot that we can go back and analyse. Overall, it was nice racing in Shanghai: it is a great track and great city."