Verstappen opens up on Red Bull’s struggles in Las Vegas

Max Verstappen has described Red Bull’s one-lap pace as “quite far off” where it needs to be after a tricky first day of practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix that the reigning world champion ended down in 17th position.

Verstappen posted a soft-tyre lap just before Alex Albon’s stricken Williams caused a red flag midway through Thursday night’s FP2 session and did not improve thereafter, leaving him two seconds off the pace set by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

FP2: Hamilton keeps Mercedes on top in second Las Vegas GP practice

Asked to reflect on the day, and put to him that Red Bull have yet to show their potential, the Dutchman replied: “Yeah, [it was] slippery. I think we struggled a lot with making the tyres work, over one lap especially.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 21: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull — Cold, slippery conditions made it tricky for the drivers in Thursday’s practice sessions

“The long run I think started off a bit more competitive, but even there I think we need to fine-tune a few things. The one-lap pace is quite far off.

“Of course, it’s quite unique conditions around here and it’s very cold, but at the end of the day it’s the same for everyone, so we need to try and understand what we’re doing wrong at the moment.”

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

Pushed on whether he has a clear direction to work in overnight, he added: “I mean, for me it just feels massively tyre-related. The balance of the car is not even that wrong, I think, it’s just we have no grip – it’s like driving on ice at the moment.”

It was a similar experience for Sergio Perez on the other side of the Red Bull garage, with the Mexican echoing his team mate’s comments and hoping that the team can “go in the [right] direction” before final practice.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 21: Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing — Verstappen and Perez wound up 17th and 19th respectively in FP2

“I think we’ve got some work to do over one lap,” he said. “I think the long run looked a little bit more promising, but I think we’ve got some work to do to really try to exploit everything, because we are not where we want.

“Especially over a single lap I think we’ve got some work to do. We know that here [Saturday and the race] is the most important, and you can overtake and so on. It will be very critical to be able to have some good pace.”

As for where Red Bull are struggling in particular over one lap, he commented: “I think mainly with balance. In the low speed the rear is stepping out a lot. We’ve come down a lot with the rear wing and it made it quite tricky in the low speed.”

Verstappen heads into the weekend with a 62-point advantage over McLaren rival Lando Norris in the drivers’ standings, giving him a first shot at wrapping up the title, while Red Bull are third in the constructors’ order behind Ferrari and McLaren.