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Motorsport

Max Verstappen: Red Bull is "not where I want it to be" in Jeddah

Max Verstappen Red Bull McLaren Red Bull Racing

Red Bull may have found a "better" feeling on one-lap pace in practice for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but Max Verstappen notes overall performance on the long runs is still "not where I want it to be".

The four-time world champion came third in FP2 after finishing only ninth in FP1, and was just over a quarter of a second behind the McLarens in the second session with his run on the soft tyre.

It was expected, due to the smoother track surface and lower degradation levels, that Red Bull would be less hamstrung by its troublesome RB21 on tyre management over the course of the race-style runs.

But the Dutchman noted that the longer stints were still "very tough", amid the team's explorations of different set-ups across the two Friday sessions.

"We tried some different things with the car, trying to find maybe a different direction with it, and I think we learned a lot from it," he said.

"It's still not where I want it to be; personally I don't really look at the gaps and I think at the end of the day you have to just go from your own feeling and what you feel in the car over one lap, and it's a bit better. But in the long runs, they were very tough for us."

Verstappen expects Red Bull to improve overnight and noted that McLaren’s advantage over other teams was still large, as Lando Norris' chart-topping FP2 time of a 1m28.267s was 0.28s quicker than the world champion.

His Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was not far away on ultimate pace before crashing during the closing stages of FP2, having clipped the wall at the final corner.

"It's a different [feeling to Bahrain] because it's a different track and grip levels are different, but also the set-up is completely different, so it's very hard to compare,” added Verstappen.

"I think one standout is of course again McLaren being very competitive, but from our side there's still quite a bit of work to do and things to understand."

Photos from Saudi Arabian GP - Practice

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing and Raymond Vermeulen, Manager of Max Verstappen

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

George Russell, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Oliver Mintzlaff, Managing director Red Bull GmbH, Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Oliver Mintzlaff, Managing director Red Bull GmbH, Christian Horner, Team Principal Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team with Jock Clear, Senior Performance Engineer of Scuderia Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Carlos Sainz Sr.

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Alex Albon, Williams

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Carlos Sainz, Williams

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Christian Horner, Team Principal Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls, Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Oliver Mintzlaff, Managing director Red Bull GmbH, Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing, Dr. Helmut Marko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Jack Doohan, Alpine

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing, Oliver Mintzlaff, Managing director Red Bull GmbH, Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal, Sauber talks with Mick Doohan

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Zhou Guanyu, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Lando Norris, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Lando Norris, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Carlos Sainz, Williams

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Lando Norris, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

George Russell, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Carlos Sainz, Williams

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Carlos Sainz, Williams

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Toto Wolff, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Toto Wolff, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday

Formula 1

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In this article

Jake Boxall-Legge

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

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