Max Verstappen has expressed his concerns about the competitiveness of his car following Friday’s practice at the Canadian GP.
Red Bull and Max Verstappen had a conflicted opening day on track at the Canadian GP. First practice indicated a positive weekend in prospect. He topped the first practice session, his RB21 looking poised and well-balanced, while rivals McLaren struggled.
The second practice session painted a more gloomy picture. The seven-time world champion’s car looked visibly more unpredictable, and he complained of heavy steering. Verstappen ended the session in ninth, over half a second away from session leader George Russell.
Speaking to the media after FP2, Verstappen acknowledged the balance issues with the RB21, but was still happy
“The day was alright to be honest. I felt quite happy with the car. FP2 was a bit more difficult for other reasons. I think we lost something with the car, like balance-wise, right, that we need to investigate.
But overall I think it was quite a positive day for us.”
Max Verstappen underlines car issues at the Canadian GP
Asked to pinpoint where the issues were with the RB21, Max Verstappen called out several areas. He had fed back to the team during the session that the car felt nervous under braking, lacking bite.
“It brakes a little bit. Yeah, the car in general in FP2 was a bit more difficult, but if we can get it back to how it felt in FP1, I think we look quite okay.
The grid looks to be closely matched at the Canadian GP, with two seconds covering the entire field. When asked if he believed he was in the battle for pole position, Verstappen was coy in his response.
He did, however, confirm that the correct operating window would be critical for a strong qualifying performance.
“Let’s see tomorrow.You know, there’s still one more session where people can get it right. For us, we just want to get it in a good window, and then we’ll see how far we are up there in qualifying.”
Coming into the Canadian GP weekend, Verstappen lies 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.
At the last round in Spain, Max Verstappen looked set for a mid points finish. However, a dramatic late race incident with George Russell and 10 10-second time penalty relegated him to tenth place.
The Canadian GP offers an opportunity for he and Red Bull to narrow the gap to McLaren at the top of the timesheets, should Verstappen get the RB21 in the right window.
