Red Bull reveal cause of surprise Max Verstappen retirement

Red Bull has revealed the cause of Max Verstappen’s surprising late retirement from the Chinese Grand Prix.

The four-time world champion suddenly slowed on lap 45 and was immediately called into the pit lane by Red Bull to retire from the second round of the 2026 F1 season.

At the time of his retirement, Verstappen had been running sixth behind Haas driver Oliver Bearman, following a recovery from yet another poor start.

Just like in Saturday’s China Sprint, the Dutchman was slow off the line and dropped to 16th before steadily working his way through the pack at the Shanghai International Circuit.

His progress was ultimately halted by his retirement, the cause of which the Milton Keynes-based outfit has now revealed.

According to Red Bull, the 28-year-old’s RB22 suffered an energy recovery system (ERS) coolant failure, with the decision to retire the car made to protect the hardware.