Max Verstappen feels the RB21 is “still not where I want it to be,” despite showing some improvement in FP2 ahead of the F1 Saudi Arabian GP.
McLaren look set to continue their strong run of form. Lando Norris topped the afternoon practice session, leading a McLaren one-two, with Verstappen finishing in third as their closest challenger.
Red Bull has faced a challenging start to the 2025 season. The Milton Keynes-based squad changed their lineup after just two rounds, replacing Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda. Verstappen remained the team’s sole points scorer until the Bahrain GP, where Tsunoda secured a ninth-place finish.
The reigning champion has been wringing every drop of performance out of the RB21, managing to secure a podium at the season opener in Australia and later taking a win in Japan. However, Verstappen has been vocal about the car’s limitations. His Bahrain GP was plagued with issues, from brake problems, to clumsy pitstops caused by a glitch on a team’s traffic light system. Verstappen ultimately finished sixth.
More work required to improve long run performance
While the RB21 has shown some pace improvement so far in Jeddah, particularly in FP2, Verstappen admitted it’s still not enough.
“We tried some different things with the car, trying to find maybe a different direction with it,” Verstappen said after the afternoon session on Friday. “I think we learned a lot from it, it’s still not where I want it to be.
“Personally, I don’t really look at the gaps. I think at the end of the day you have to just go from your own feeling and what you feel in the car. Over one lap it’s a bit better but then the long runs they were very tough still for us.”
Reflecting on the differences between last weekend and the Saudi Arabian GP, Verstappen noted that the key focus was finding more outright pace with his car.
“Well, it’s different actually because it’s a different track and grip levels are different, but also the setup is completely different, so it’s very hard to compare, but it’s still clear of course that we want to be faster.”
Verstappen remained tight-lipped when asked what might be achievable in qualifying on Saturday, saying: “It’s difficult to say really, I think one standout is of course again McLaren being very competitive, but from our side there’s still quite a bit of work to do and things to understand.”
Tsunoda suffers late-session FP2 crash
Meanwhile, Tsunoda’s FP2 session ended prematurely, as he crashed his RB21 with around eight minutes left on the clock. The Japanese driver clipped the inside wall at the final corner; the impact snapped the car’s suspension, and from there Tsunoda was a passenger as the Red Bull slid into the exit wall, causing further damage.
Tsunoda was quick to apologise for the incident, explaining, “I just turned in too much and clipped the wall with the inside wheel and had damage.”
He continued: “After that, I just had no control. Apologies to the team. The pace was looking good so it’s a shame.”
Asked how confident he had been feeling in the car before his crash, Tsunoda said: “The confidence level was pretty good. The last soft run was a bit compromised with the warm-up and everything, but so far [it has been] pretty okay.
“I got limited time on the long run which I caused myself, so I can’t complain.
“I think [the short run pace] is okay. In the long run, I was compromised a bit by the warm-up, so there’s that, but the short run seems okay.”
