Verstappen: Red Bull "severely off the pace" in Imola F1 practice
Max Verstappen says Red Bull is "severely off the pace" for Formula 1's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix after struggling with his car handling in Imola on Friday.
Verstappen's frustration boiled over throughout both practice sessions as his upgraded Red Bull RB20 proved hard to control on the technical Italian venue's second sector.
The triple world champion ended first practice in fifth and slipped to seventh in the second, over half a second behind Ferrari's pacesetter Charles Leclerc. His team-mate Sergio Perez was next up in eighth another tenth behind the Dutchman.
Verstappen frequently vented his frustration over the RB20's recalcitrant behaviour and unpredictable balance on the team radio. After the session, he feared Red Bull was too slow despite the new upgrades, which include an all-new front wing, a revised floor and rear bodywork tweaks.
"A difficult day. Just difficult to get a good balance and just not really feeling comfortable in the car, moving around a lot," Verstappen told F1 TV.
"It's very easy to lose the car, so we have a few things that we have to look at because today definitely.... just bad, just not comfortable.
"Also the long run was really bad, so definitely a few things that we have to improve if we want to be competitive tomorrow.
"Today we were just severely off the pace that we need to fix."
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Asked if he had confidence the team would be able to turn it around for Saturday, he quipped: "I guess it can't be worse than what we had today, right?
"We'll look at a few things that we can do better for tomorrow. But yeah, it looks a bit like the others took a bit of a step forward. And from our side just a bad day.''
Verstappen's ire was also drawn by Lewis Hamilton, who impeded him through the Villeneuve chicane before Tosa. That led to Verstappen furiously gesticulating to the Briton as he pulled up alongside the Mercedes.
"It's not the first time," Verstappen said about Hamilton blocking him. "You try to, of course, always stay calm about it. But yeah, it happened again.
"But at the other end, I don't want to really talk about it too much, because that's not our issue today."
Share Or Save This Story
F1 2026 mid-season grades: Williams takes shocking step backwards
F1 2026 mid-season grades: Aston Martin seeks redemption after shocking start
The novelty of Cadillac is starting to wear off - but that's a compliment
Clark, Senna, Antonelli – How the grand chelem age record has evolved
Why McLaren has been coy about introducing its rotating F1 rear wing
Why progress 'won't satisfy' Red Bull until it can give Max Verstappen a winning car
Isack Hadjar explains Red Bull "culture shock" after Racing Bulls move
Report: Red Bull finds Gianpiero Lambiase F1 replacement
The Red Bull seat nobody is talking about – and why that's the biggest compliment of all
Two car chiefs ejected after Iowa NASCAR Cup inspection failures
Opportunity knocks for Blaney in race to the NASCAR Chase
Joe Custer: Haas “dead committed” to making NASCAR Cup team work
NASCAR Cup Iowa starting lineup: Ryan Blaney earns pole over Kyle Larson
Why it will “take years” for Cadillac to reach the level F1 rivals are operating at
Why Aston Martin is a better destination on the F1 driver market than it seems
How the McLaren MP4/8B's engine blow-up changed F1 history
The novelty of Cadillac is starting to wear off - but that's a compliment
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments