The Dutchman conceded the lead in the F1 Drivers’ Championship for the first time since May 2022, when Lando Norris won the season opener in Australia.

Verstappen could only manage second place in his Red Bull after suffering from tyre wear in the treacherous conditions, but the outlook was a lot better for the Dutchman in China when he finished second to Lewis Hamilton in the Sprint race.

Red Bull was unable to replicate this pace in qualifying, which meant Verstappen lined up in fourth on the grid for the Grand Prix.

After failing to gain any places at the start, it became a race of attrition for Verstappen as he managed his tyres until the end to finish P4.

Peter Windsor pointed out the moment he thinks Verstappen knew the McLaren’s were out of reach for Red Bull, when speaking after the race on his YouTube livestream.

Peter Windsor thinks Max Verstappen move at the start of Chinese GP sealed his fate

Verstappen had a good start off the line and tried to overtake Lando Norris heading into Turn 1, but just as he did so, he needed to make a correction as the rear of the Red Bull started to slide.

The moment caused him to fall behind both Ferraris and effectively compromised his race as he needed to manage the tyres in the traffic.

Windsor believes this is the moment he knew it would be impossible to try and replicate his Australian GP finish.

“I think this was a defining moment of the Chinese GP when Max Verstappen went around the outside of the two McLarens at Turn 1,” said Windsor.

“As soon as he did it the backend stepped out and he had to come out the throttle and lost position. That was the difference in grip level between the McLaren and the Red Bull.”

Red Bull faces crunch talks over the future of Liam Lawson

It was a doubly disappointing weekend for Red Bull as they came away without any points for the second car for the second weekend in a row.

Lawson managed to finish the race this weekend, but there are questions over whether he was the right option for Red Bull to promote over Yuki Tsunoda.

The New Zealander has suffered the worst start to a Red Bull career in the history of the team, and is failing to back up the team in the Constructors’ Championship.

Verstappen is reportedly not happy with a proposed swap between Tsunoda and Lawson, largely due to the impact it could have on car development.

A decision on Lawson will be made in the days before the Japanese GP, although the team is keen on giving him a chance at Suzuka as it is a track he has prior knowledge of having raced in Super Formula.