The Dutchman was still nearly four tenths off the pace over a single lap, further highlighting how much Norris loves Yas Marina and his ability to extract performance there right away.

“(The car was) pretty okay,” he told Sky Sports after FP2. “I was fairly happy with the car, we just need to be probably a little bit faster. I think still not quick enough, but I think overall we’ve been in a, for us, I think in a decent window around here.”

When asked if he had resolved the handling issues he faced in FP1, the Dutchman added: “That’s a constant fight, that’s nothing new.”

He finally added: “Seems like it’s a decent gap that we need to close, but from our side we’ll just try to put the best car forward. Let's see how much we can find overnight.”

The Austrian advisor summed up the first two practice sessions, where Verstappen was the second fastest driver on track after Norris, both over a single lap and race pace.

Marko said he was moderately satisfied, noting that Red Bull “had worse Fridays” earlier in the season, but stressed there’s still work to do to beat McLaren.