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Max Verstappen expressed his frustration at Red Bull challenger after enduring disappointments across both practice sessions of the 2025 British Grand Prix. Despite dry conditions and cooler temperatures compared to Austria, the No. 1 RB21 stayed half a second adrift in FP1 and FP2 at Silverstone.
Heading into the weekend, Verstappen carried the weight of a bruising Austrian GP, where his race ended in three corners. That DNF snapped his 31-race finishing streak and deepened the championship deficit to Oscar Piastri. As the paddock buzzed with fresh reports about Mercedes' 'conversations' to sign him, Verstappen returned to a track where he's historically thrived.
The Dutch driver described his practice sessions on Friday as a bad day for him. Verstappen also complained about his RB21 challenger as he said (via F1):
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"For me personally, was quite a bad day. Just no balance in the car. Just very difficult to corner as well. Quite a poor day for us I think in general."
Max Verstappen finished tenth in FP1 (+0.540s) and fifth in FP2 (+0.498s). Both sessions highlighted a familiar pattern of his RB21 refusing to rotate through high-speed sections under crosswinds. His radio messages also echoed that discomfort.
While drivers like Charles Leclerc and Piastri also dealt with similar gusts through Copse and Stowe, Verstappen felt the RB21's handling left him with no margin. When asked how wind affected his sessions, he added (via F1):
"A lot but that's of course not an excuse because everyone has to deal with that. It's not easy but same for everyone. Every weekend is a different scenario. The wind around here, it seems our car is quite sensitive to it but in general it's not been an easy day."
The McLaren and Ferrari cars appeared to glide in comparison, especially in the long-run sessions that concluded FP2. Lando Norris topped FP2 with a 1:25.816 while Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton looked sharp in both practice sessions.
Max Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda didn't fare better on Friday. The Japanese driver finished P15 in FP2, nearly a full second behind Norris. Despite sitting in the upgraded RB21 chassis for a second consecutive weekend, the junior Red Bull struggled with consistency, traffic, and grip in the FP2 session, highlighting Red Bull's midfield worries heading into qualifying on Saturday, June 5.
Max Verstappen struggles to keep pace despite new RB21 upgrades
Despite constant upgrades, the same problems remain for Red Bull. That inconsistency appeared again at Silverstone practice sessions, particularly under braking and during rapid direction changes.
The team arrived with another set of floor-related changes: reprofiled floor bodywork, lateral repositioning of the fences, and revised pressure distribution. All these tweaks are intended to smooth airflow and unlock more local load. But much like in Austria, these updates did little to quell the underlying issues.
Max Verstappen wrestled with a lack of front-end grip and couldn't lean on the car through Silverstone's faster sections. In the slow-speed complexes around Brooklands, Vale, and the final chicane, the car slid under deceleration, forcing the Dutchman into wider lines and bad exits. As a result, fans are calling for no more upgrades to Red Bull cars.
Now trailing Oscar Piastri by 61 points in the Drivers' standings, Verstappen needs a breakthrough Saturday, not just to re-enter the championship narrative, but to prevent another weekend of watching McLaren and Ferrari surge ahead.
"Looking to tomorrow, we can analyse our data and try and look at what we can do to improve, but I think overall we have just been lacking a bit of performance," Verstappen dadded (via F1).
Red Bull hasn't won since Imola, and has already fallen to fourth place in the Constructors' standings. Max Verstappen will look to make a comeback from his DNF at Austria with a strong showing at the qualifying round on Saturday.
