Max Verstappen says Red Bull has found a "better" feeling on one-lap pace in practice for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - but 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 "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."
Watch: Why Hamilton Was Doom and Gloom in the F1 Paddock - Saudi Arabia GP Practice Analysis
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 - a not-dissimilar incident to the one Verstappen sustained in the battle for pole in 2021.
"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."
