After the first day of free practice for the Australian Grand Prix, it is quite clear that Red Bull does not have the fastest car on the grid. Both the drivers, Liam Lawson and Max Verstappen, had some serious concerns about the car that need to be addressed as they prepare for qualifying on Saturday.
During the 2nd free practice session in Melbourne, Max Verstappen only managed to log the 7th fastest time, while his teammate, Lawson, was only 17th on the time sheets. This is a huge concern for Red Bull as they were hoping to win a Championship again this year.
Liam Lawson blames himself after poor FP2 performance
Following FP2 at Mebourne, Liam Lawson went on to speak to the media about his first day with the RB21, with the exception of pre-season testing.
“I feel comfortable, but I’m just too slow.” Lawson said.
“We have a lot of work to do tonight. On the first day at a new circuit you always expect some work, but probably not as much as now. We’ll work on it tonight and try to improve tomorrow.”
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Lawson feels that the lack of pace is more his fault than the car’s. But let’s face it: Max Verstappen’s teammates have always struggled to keep up with him in the past. Over the years, Verstappen has had 3 different teammates, all of whom have not been able to challenge the Dutch driver.
However, this is just Liam Lawson’s first day with the RB21. Besides, Max himself struggled with how the car was handling through the circuit.
Max Verstappen details RB21 issues after FP2
After FP2, Max Verstappen revealed his concerns about the RB21 on his own website:
“The balance wasn’t really wrong, but somehow we didn’t get any grip, and it was difficult.”
“That’s why we’re not really at the top now. These are not really big balance problems, so it’s going to be difficult to solve.”
While the RB21 has some difficult problems to solve, Max expected this.
“It’s not that I didn’t expect this. I’m not positively or negatively surprised by our speed. We haven’t performed well here in Australia since the new asphalt was laid. That doesn’t help us, but that’s the same for everyone, of course.”
“So we’ll have to find a bit more speed, because now we’re not enough to compete at the front.”
Helmut Marko himself stated that fighting at the top is not realistic for Red Bull. They might need to settle for battling it out with Mercedes for being the 3rd fastest team on the grid. This will be a disappointment for Red Bull as they would want to win a Championship again this year. But let’s not count that out just yet.
Winning the Championship is not about who has the fastest car at the start of the season. It is about who stays consistent and develops their car throughout the year. Even if Red Bull is not as fast as they would have hoped to be, they can still turn things around by bringing some upgrades in the coming races. We saw McLaren do that during the Miami Grand Prix last year, and they went on to win the title.
Do you think Red Bull can win a Championship this year? Post your thoughts in the comment section below.
