Why Red Bull could be at a disadvantage in Chinese GP

Chinese Grand Prix pole-sitter Max Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez could be at a disadvantage in the race, according to Pirelli's strategy forecast.

In qualifying, the sprint race winner bagged his sixth straight pole position and became the first driver in the 21st century to take pole for the first five races of the season, the first since Mika Hakkinen in 1999.

It was also Red Bull's 100th pole, 15 years almost to the day since Sebastian Vettel took the first at the 2009 race, but Verstappen might not have everything his own way in the race.

Pirelli is predicting that the 56-lap affair will be a straightforward two-stop strategy with the field advised to start on the yellow C3 tyres, stopping between laps 14-20. A switch to the hard C2 rubber is then called for before a final switch back to another set of C3s for the final run to the flag.

However, both Red Bull drivers only have one new set of medium tyres available, but two new sets of the hards.

Fernando Alonso is Red Bull's nearest challenger on the grid in third, with the Aston Martin driver having those two new sets of mediums available.

Both Charles Leclerc and George Russell are in the same boat as Alonso, although Leclerc has two new sets of both the hard and mediums.

From 18th on the grid, Lewis Hamilton has four new sets of the softs available, and one new medium and hard.