Max Verstappen has conceded Red Bull’s car is “still not where I want it to be” despite promising one-lap pace in practice at Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Red Bull appears to have a much stronger baseline compared to last weekend in Bahrain as Verstappen ended the sole representative practice hour in third place.
The Dutchman clocked a 1:28.267s on his qualifying simulation to end up behind the pacesetting McLarens, more than two tenths down on Lando Norris’ benchmark.
Red Bull had been expected to be in better shape around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, owing to the venue’s less abrasive asphalt being less punishing on degradation.
But while the times looked encouraging, Verstappen has insisted that he is not satisfied with how his Red Bull RB21 was handling when the car was laden with fuel.
“We tried some different things with the car, trying to find maybe a different direction with it, and I think we learned a lot from it.
“It’s still not where I want it to be; personally I don’t really look at the gaps and I think at the end of the day you have to just go from your own feeling and what you feel in the car over one lap, and it’s a bit better. But in the long runs, they were very tough for us.”
Verstappen admits Red Bull has ‘work to do’
Verstappen highlighted how the track characteristics and extensive changes that Red Bull explored made it impossible to draw a direct comparison to last weekend.
However, the reigning F1 champion acknowledged that McLaren’s status as the team to beat has remained unchanged as the MCL39 emerged on top in all conditions.
“It’s a different [feeling to Bahrain] because it’s a different track and grip levels are different, but also the set-up is completely different, so it’s very hard to compare,” he added.
“I think one standout is of course again McLaren being very competitive, but from our side there’s still quite a bit of work to do and things to understand.”
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