Max Verstappen has described his Friday at the F1 British GP as “quite a bad day”, after he finished 10th and fifth in the first and second free practice sessions respectively.
This comes after Verstappen recorded a disappointing DNF result at the Austrian GP last weekend, having qualified in a rather uncharacteristic position of P7.
The reigning World Champion currently sits third in the driver’s standings behind McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Red Bull will be feeling the pressure to find some pace after McLaren has recorded strong weekend after strong weekend.
Verstappen: No balance in RB21
However, that much-needed pace did not seem to make an appearance today.
“For me personally, it was quite a bad day,” Verstappen said. “No balance in the car. It’s very difficult to corner as well. So quite a poor day, I think, for us in general.”
When asked how much his performance had been affected by severe and changing winds, he said: “A lot, but that’s of course not an excuse because everyone has to deal with that, right? So it’s not easy, but [it’s the] same for everyone.”
The team’s issues came as no surprise to Verstappen, who struggled last weekend in Austria too.
“Every weekend is a different scenario,” he said. “Now with the wind around here, it seems like our car seems quite sensitive to it. But in general, it’s not been an easy day.”
Tsunoda: “Lots of work to do” ahead of F1 British GP
Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda also shared similar struggles with the car, having finished 15th in FP2 – the only practice session he took part in, as Red Bull Junior Arvid Lindblad took his spot in first. Tsunoda finished half a second off his teammate.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Lots of work to do until tomorrow.”
“I just had one free practice session. I know a couple of things I can improve in my driving and setup. So just have to optimise it.”
Tsunoda’s P16 finish in Austria does not inspire much hope on the surface, but the Japanese driver is confident that the team was able to glean plenty of information from his performance, which should help with improving the car for future races, including Silverstone:
“Last week, Austria was pretty good,” he said. “It was one of the best weekends I had to race or even qualifying.
“To be honest, the pace was getting there, but a bit of fine-tuning, I guess. There’s a couple of differences and some comparison across the cars. So yeah, let’s see how we can adapt and put it all together towards the end.”
When asked how the cooler temperatures forecasted for Saturday might affect Red Bull’s qualifying pace, Tsunoda said:
“That might help as well. But let’s see. It’s not easy, but it seems like there’s been less up and down with the forecast. We never know in the UK.”
