Red Bull remains coy over impact of new front wing in Barcelona

Asked what Red Bull had been missing on Friday to compete at the front, Monaghan pointed to familiar issues that have affected the team throughout the season. The Briton admitted the RB22 lacked both balance and overall grip around the demanding Barcelona circuit, although he stressed that such difficulties were not unexpected given the nature of the track and the conditions.

"If the others exhibit worse tire degradation than us or less tire degradation than us, what are they doing differently? How do we learn from this? How do we improve relative to our opposition? Is going to be crucial for our dates on Sunday, really, isn't it?," he later added.

Speaking about the revised front wing introduced in Barcelona, Monaghan delivered a cautiously optimistic assessment, suggesting the update had shown promising signs during Friday running. However, he stopped short of confirming whether Red Bull would continue with the specification for the rest of the weekend, stressing that the team still needed to fully evaluate its overall impact on performance.

Verstappen was left far from encouraged by Red Bull's performance during Friday practice in Barcelona, with the Dutchman suggesting the team is still lacking the pace required to fight at the front. Despite completing a full programme across both sessions, he felt the RB22 struggled throughout the lap and failed to deliver the level of performance he had hoped for.

The reigning world champion also noted that the team's difficulties extend beyond qualifying pace, with similar concerns emerging during the longer runs. Having looked more competitive at recent circuits that placed a greater emphasis on low-speed corners, Verstappen believes Barcelona's varied layout has provided a clearer picture of Red Bull's current shortcomings, leaving the Milton Keynes-based outfit with plenty of work to do ahead of the rest of the weekend.