Max Verstappen insists Red Bull have to ‘analyse what to do better’ after Friday at Silverstone

Max Verstappen believes that there is “work to do” for himself and Red Bull after the opening day of track action at the British Grand Prix, with the Dutchman ending Friday in P7 on the timesheets.

Having set the early pace in the second practice session on the medium tyre, Verstappen was the first to bolt on the soft compound – which he did not run in FP1 – and promptly went quickest. However, it was Lando Norris who ultimately topped the timesheets, with Verstappen later admitting that his RB20 had not performed as well on the soft tyre.

FP2: Norris sets the pace during second practice at Silverstone ahead of Piastri and Perez

There was also a big moment for the Dutchman at Chapel but, when asked about this after the session, he commented: “It was okay. It was just a little slide, so I aborted the lap there.

“On the softs it didn’t go so well, in FP2 the medium looked a bit better. So yeah, a bit of work to do. We tried of course a few things as well on the car from FP1 to FP2, and we just have to analyse a bit what to do better for tomorrow.”

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 05: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull — Verstappen ended Friday at Silverstone in P7 on the timesheets

After the skies had threatened rain throughout much of the session, showers fell during the final minutes of second practice amid a mixed weather forecast for the weekend ahead.

Quizzed on whether he and the team still have a clear direction ahead of Saturday given the possibility of further rainfall, Verstappen reflected: “Yeah, we tried a few things so we now just need to analyse all of that and then that will give us a direction for tomorrow, where of course naturally I think the weather will rain a bit, so we’ll all have to take that into account.”

HIGHLIGHTS: Catch the action from FP2 at Silverstone as Norris remains at the top of the timesheets

On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Sergio Perez had missed out on the action in FP1, having handed his car over to F2 driver Isack Hadjar for the session. The Mexican returned for FP2 and looked to be on the pace, ending the hour in P3.

“It was a solid session, considering that we lost the whole morning,” said Perez afterwards. “It was good, [the] car is feeling good. I think we need to find some balance, especially in the low-speed, medium-speed. The high-speed feels really nice [in] the car.”

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 05: Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on in the — Perez was forced to watch on during FP1 as rookie driver Hadjar took the wheel of his RB20

While all drivers have to occasionally give up their seat to allow for a rookie to step in during FP1, Perez acknowledged that this can prove to be a bit of a setback entering into Saturday.

“It feels like a very complicated session [in FP2] because there is a lot that comes to you,” the 34-year-old remarked. “You’re straight away going to performance and into high fuel.

F2: Hadjar takes pole at Silverstone after spin for Championship leader Aron

“It can very easily lead you to the wrong decisions, especially in a track like this when conditions are changing so much, so we just have to be careful in that. We thought it was going to be wet this morning but it wasn’t. Anyway, Hadjar did a very good job for the team.”

And when pushed on whether he is still confident of getting his set-up ready overnight, Perez sounded a positive note by responding: “Yeah, I think there should be some nice potential for us later.”