Max Verstappen assesses Red Bull’s chances after low-key Friday in Australia as new team mate Liam Lawson admits he was ‘just too slow’

Max Verstappen explained after the opening two practice sessions for the Australian Grand Prix that he was “not positively or negatively surprised” about Red Bull’s level of performance, following a quiet start to the weekend from the team.

Verstappen, who headed into the season-opening weekend declaring that the squad were “not the quickest at the moment”, ended Friday’s running at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in seventh position – more than six-tenths off the pace set by Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc.

FP2: Leclerc sets the pace ahead of Piastri and Norris during second practice in Australia

Asked to reflect on his time at the wheel of the RB21, which included some flirting with the gravel, Verstappen said: “To be honest, the balance wasn’t even completely out. No massive or major problems.

“But somehow, the grip was not coming alive. I was just struggling on all four tyres, really, in Sector 1 and the last sector. That means, of course, that were are not really up there at the moment.”

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 14: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull — Verstappen placed seventh on the Friday timesheets in Australia

Pushed on whether he has a clear direction to work in overnight, Verstappen added: “The problem is that it’s not really like I have major balance problems. I think it will be a bit hard to fix.

“It’s also nothing that I didn’t expect when I arrived here. I’m not positively or negatively surprised with the pace we are showing.

AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from second practice for the Australian Grand Prix

“We just have to make sure that we find a bit more pace, but at the moment we are definitely lacking a bit to fight up front.”

Verstappen’s new team mate, Liam Lawson, ended the day down in 17th position, 1.2 seconds adrift of Leclerc and more than half a second away from the reigning World Champion.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 14: Liam Lawson of New Zealand driving the (30) Oracle Red Bull Racing — Lawson had to get to grips with a new circuit in the sister Red Bull

“[I’m] comfortable [in the car] – just too slow,” the New Zealander, who touched the wall at Turn 9 in FP1, summed up. “We obviously have a lot of work to do overnight.

“Day one, on a new track, we were expecting to have some work to do, but probably not this much. We’ll work on it overnight and then try and improve it for tomorrow.”

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Asked if he has an early read as to why it was a tougher day than expected, the former AlphaTauri and RB super-sub added: “Not really. I think if we knew that we’d know how to fix it as well.

“In general, just grip when we need to use it on that short run, but then in general our long run pace was slow as well. We’ll work on it.”