A filmmaker with a soft spot for Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen and above all, Tazio Nuvolari and Ayrton Senna, is also a diehard Formula One fan since the age of 4 (mid-90's). An avid researcher of the past of Grand Prix Racing since before it was even named F1, and with a thirst for knowledge of the ins and outs of the actuality of the sport, as well as for the technical aspects that define it, is a member of GPblog since 2023, where he has put his love of racing to good use.
In the end no Red Bull Racing car was in the top three in either of the first two practice sessions. The RB21 seemed to have balance issues that prevented drivers, Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson, to extract its full potential. The Dutchman knows what the issue is but does not think it can be quickly fixed.
"The balance wasn’t even completely out," says Verstappen in conversation with Sky Sports following the session. "[There were] no massive or major problems, but somehow the grip was not coming alive and just struggling on all four tyres, really, in sector one and the last sector." Indeed, Red Bull Racing seemed to perform better in the quick middel sector sheeding some light on where the RB21's strengths lie, but also revealing its weaknesses.
"That means of course that we are not really up there at the moment," is the Dutchman's conclussion. Will Red Bull be able to turn the weekend around much like they did in last year's Qatar Grand Prix? Verstappen answers. "The problem is that it’s not really like I have major balance problems, so I think it will be a bit hard to fix."
Verstappen already expected Red Bull to struggle
However, the four-time world champion highlights that these issues were not entirely unexpected. "But it’s also nothing that I didn’t expect when I arrived here, so I’m not positively or negatively surprised with the pace that we are showing," he concluded.
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