Red Bull on the ‘back foot’ after engine change - Verstappen

Max Verstappen says Red Bull has been left “a little on the back foot” after being forced to change the Honda power unit on his Formula 1 car.

Red Bull had originally planned to update to the Spec 2 Honda engine on both its cars ahead of final practice, but opted to bring forward the upgrade to FP2 after Verstappen encountered an oil leak during opening practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Dutchman recovered to end the day fifth fastest - 0.751s down on Friday pacesetter Valtteri Bottas - but admitted the power unit change had a knock on effect for FP2.

“During FP1 we had an oil leak so we had to change the engine ahead of FP2, which put us a little on the back foot,” Verstappen said.

“I think that’s also a little bit of the reason why, in the second practice session, we were not exactly where we wanted to be set-up wise with the balance of the car, but we have enough data to understand and improve it for tomorrow.

“During the two practice sessions we tried to improve the car and understand the new updates, which I think we did,” he added.

“I have a good feeling about the upgrades, which work for sure, and the tyres seem to be working quite well, too. The long runs were okay and we still need to find a little bit of pace, but we have the whole night to find it.”

It was an encouraging day for Pierre Gasly, who ended up eighth quickest in FP1 before improving to seventh in second practice, ending up just two tenths behind his Red Bull teammate.

“Overall, today felt good and it was a pretty positive day,” Gasly said.

“I think we’ve taken a step forward and the first feeling with the car is good. Of course, as a driver you always want more grip, but I think in terms of balance it was good and so I’m really happy.

“It’s only the first day of running so it’s too early to make any conclusions and we need to understand more about this package.

“It’s clear Mercedes and Ferrari have made a pretty big step, but we ran a lot of tests today, so now we need to analyse everything tonight and try to put everything together for tomorrow.”