Lando Norris and Max Verstappen weren’t entirely happy with their cars after Friday’s running at the Australian Grand Prix, despite McLaren and Ferrari looking like the teams to beat heading into Qualifying.
Norris, who topped FP1 and finished third in FP2, showed solid pace but wasn’t fully convinced with his car’s performance—especially in low-fuel conditions.
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“It’s been a good start to the weekend, we’ve got a good baseline but certainly not happy, like not confident with the car in terms of finding the best balance and being consistent enough, especially on low fuel,” Norris admitted.
“High fuel, I felt good. Just low fuel was still similar to Bahrain, too many inconsistencies, too many problems, so a bit of a struggle.”
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Meanwhile, Red Bull continued to look off the pace, with Verstappen ending FP2 down in seventh, 0.624s behind Charles Leclerc.
The reigning four-time champ struggled with understeer and lacked grip throughout his laps, raising concerns about Red Bull’s ability to fight at the front.
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“The balance wasn’t even completely out, like no massive or major problems, but somehow the grip was not coming alive and just struggling on all four tyres, really, in sector one and the last sector,” Verstappen explained. “That means of course that we are not really up there at the moment.”
When asked if the issues were fixable overnight, Verstappen wasn’t so sure: “The problem is that it’s not really like I have major balance problems, so I think it will be a bit hard to fix.”
With Qualifying just hours away and Ferrari setting the pace, Red Bull may have an uphill battle ahead. Will Norris and Verstappen find answers in time?
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