Max Verstappen finished third in the second free practice session, with the Dutch driver testing several different setups.
Red Bull is aiming to bounce back here in Saudi Arabia after a lackluster weekend in Bahrain. Despite Tsunoda‘s crash at the final corner in the closing minutes of FP2, Friday wasn’t entirely negative for the Anglo-Austrian team. Max Verstappen, who had a few updates on his RB21, ended the session in third place, behind the two McLarens and ahead of Leclerc’s Ferrari.
The four-time world champion didn’t hide his frustration as issues with his car continue to persist. Speaking at the end of FP2, Max said: “Today we tried a few different things with the car and worked on finding a new direction. I think we learned a lot from today’s sessions, but we’re still not exactly where we want to be with the car. The single-lap pace is a bit better, but the long runs are still difficult.”
When asked about his expectations for qualifying, he added:“Compared to Bahrain, the grip levels and car setup are completely different, so it’s hard to make any real comparisons with last week. It’s difficult to say how competitive we’ll be tomorrow; the McLarens seem really strong. There’s still some work to do and things to figure out, so we’ll see.”
Photo: X Oracle Red Bull Racing
