China last hosted an F1 race in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic derailed its grand prix.
F1 now returns to the demanding Shanghai International Circuit after four seasons in which it didn't appear on the calendar, with teams facing several unknowns on how this generation of cars will perform there.
Furthermore, the circuit has since been resurfaced, meaning very little existing data is valid at the 5.4km track outside Shanghai and the weekend is harder to prepare.
To add to the teams' headaches, China has been selected as the first of six sprint venues this year, giving them only one 60-minute practice session to find the ideal set-up.
When asked by Autosport about the decision to hold a sprint at Shanghai on its first year back, Verstappen replied sarcastically: "Yeah, it's very smart to do that.
"It's not great to do that because when you have been away from a track for quite a while, I think you never know what you're going to experience, so it would have been better to have a normal race weekend there.
"On the other hand, it probably spices things up a bit more, and that's maybe what they would like to see.
"But purely from a driving and performance perspective of the sport, I think it's not the smartest thing to do. We'll see what we get there.
Source: Autosport