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Following the F1 Saudi Arabia GP FP2, Max Verstappen felt that Red Bull is still not where he would want it to be, as he ended the first day of running in P3, behind the McLaren duo. Compared to the race weekend in Bahrain, this was a much more positive day for the driver and the team, as he finished FP2 inside the top 6 for the first time this season.
The start of the season hasn't been ideal for Verstappen, as his Red Bull car appears to be slightly behind the pace of McLaren. Consequently, rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have moved to the top of the championship standings. Norris currently leads, with his teammate closely following in second place.
Max Verstappen is 8 points behind Lando Norris in the championship, and if he has to build a title challenge, he'll need to have a better car. After a disappointing race in Bahrain, the car does appear better suited to Jeddah. This was evident in the qualifying simulation, where the car was just around two tenths slower than the McLaren duo.
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The driver, however, is not confident yet and doesn't think the Red Bull is in the place that he would like. Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, he said,
“We tried some different things with the car, trying to find maybe a different direction with it. 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, 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 it’s a bit better but then the long runs they were very tough still for us.”
Talking about the pecking order, he said,
"It’s difficult to say really. I think one standout of course again is McLaren being very competitive but from our side there’s still quite a bit of work to do and things to understand.”
Max Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda crashes late in FP2
Max Verstappen's new teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, had a crash late in FP2 as the driver was on a long run. The Japanese driver raised his hand and apologized to the Red Bull team for the mistake as he said,
“I just turned in too much and clipped the wall with the inside wheel and had damage. After that, I just had no control. Apologies to the team. The pace was looking good so it’s a shame.”
Compared to Max Verstappen's former teammates, Yuki Tsunoda has arguably been the best-performing one in the recent past. He's closer to Verstappen and seems calmer behind the wheel compared to his predecessors.
