Max Verstappen deflated after “poor day” in British GP F1 practice
It was a difficult day for Max Verstappen at Silverstone.
Max Verstappen was hamstrung by balance issues during what he described as “quite a bad” opening day of the British Grand Prix weekend.
The Red Bull driver languished in 10th place in first practice at Silverstone, more than half a second off the pace set by Ferrari rival Lewis Hamilton.
While he improved to fifth in second practice later in the afternoon, he still faced a deficit of 0.498s to Lando Norris in the chart-topping McLaren.
Having also retired on the opening lap of the Austrian Grand Prix last weekend, Verstappen cut a deflated figure when asked to assess his performance in Friday practice.
“For me personally it was quite a bad day. No balance in the car,” he told Sky TV. “It's very difficult to corner as well. So quite a poor day I think for us in general.”
he added: "Every weekend is different – different scenarios.
“Right 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.”
Asked whether he and Red Bull had ideas to extract more pace from the RB21 overnight, Verstappen said: “Maybe a few that we'll look at, but I think overall, it was just lacking a bit of performance.”
Sky TV analyst and 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button explained that Verstappen had been struggling with understeer throughout the day, which prevented him from driving in his preferred style.
The Dutchman is known to favour a ‘pointy’ car with a highly responsive front end.
“The thing is he had understeer in first practice as well,” Button explained. “He just had a snappy rear. Now he's just gone understeer, so it's not as easy as just dialling it out.
“They can be at the limitation of the front wing. It's quite difficult to make the changes that he needs.
“He can't show what he's good at, which is driving a car that's on the nose, and that's where he gets the lap.”
Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished 15th quickest after missing the opening practice to give track time to Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad.
In this article
Rachit joined the Crash.net team in 2025 with a primary focus on F1 and sportscar racing.
He previously served as a news editor at Motorsport.com, where he played a key role in the day-to-day editorial operations.
