Max Verstappen raises concern over Red Bull 'issue' ahead of Chinese GP

Max Verstappen has revealed tyre degradation was an "issue" for Red Bull during the opening round of the campaign in Australia.

The four-time champion also noted the Milton Keynes-based squad may suffer similar effects this weekend in China.

Red Bull endured a challenging opening round to the year in Melbourne as it was unable to compete at the front of the field against Mercedes and Ferrari.

A qualifying crash for Verstappen saw him line up at the back of the field before he carved his way through the pack en route to sixth place.

Verstappen admitted the comeback drive allowed Red Bull to collect valuable data, but acknowledged that his pace was hindered by significant tyre wear around Albert Park.

"It was good to be back racing again and it was promising to see us have a good comeback in the race," Verstappen said.

"The team did a great job to get to where we are but there is still a lot to do and a lot of learnings that we can take on from that race.

"We were particularly impacted by the tyre degradation in Melbourne, which can also be an issue at this circuit in Shanghai, and the deployment is something we can look at as well.

"We will continue to collect data and work on improving the car; we are still learning and we want to go into this week and be more in the fight."

The Chinese Grand Prix this weekend marks the second round of the 24-race calendar and features the first sprint weekend of the season.

Teams will be under pressure to get their cars into a competitive position with just one hour of practice preceding the high-stakes sessions.

"Of course, it is a sprint weekend so we will have less time to work on the setup of the car, so we need to make sure we hit the ground running," Verstappen added.

"The circuit is pretty unique, with quite a challenging track layout with a variety of different corners but with plenty of opportunities for overtaking."