Max Verstappen: Red Bull pace ‘not where I want it to be’ after long run struggles

Max Verstappen has conceded that Red Bull will need to be faster to challenge McLaren for victory at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Verstappen ended second practice at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit just under 0.3s behind Lando Norris.

McLaren led 1-2, with Norris over a tenth ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri.

While Red Bull weren’t on McLaren’s pace in practice, it was a sizeable improvement on last weekend in Bahrain.

Red Bull’s one-lap pace might be misleading, however, with Verstappen revealing that the RB21’s performance during the race simulations was less promising.

Speaking after FP2 in Saudi Arabia, Verstappen said: “Well 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 [in practice]. At the end of the day, you must 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 for us.”

“Hard to compare” to Bahrain

The Bahrain GP was a terrible weekend for Verstappen and Red Bull.

It took until the final lap for Verstappen to overtake Alpine’s Pierre Gasly for sixth place.

Despite their underwhelming form, Verstappen remains in title contention after four rounds.

Verstappen is just eight points behind Norris.

Comparing Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Verstappen said: “Well, it’s different naturally because it’s a different track and grip levels are different, but the setup is completely different.

“Very hard to compare but still clear, of course, we want to be faster.”

After a promising FP2 session, Yuki Tsunoda ended practice in the wall.

Tsunoda clipped the inside barrier on the approach to the final corner before crashing his Red Bull.