Max Verstappen reveals what he is lacking after ‘difficult’ Friday
Max Verstappen makes Red Bull F1 car admission after 'difficult' Friday practice in Japan.
Max Verstappen says he is lacking confidence in his Red Bull F1 car following a “difficult” Friday at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Reigning world champion Verstappen was only eighth-fastest in a chaotic second practice which was disrupted by four red flags and complained of understeer in his RB21.
Verstappen had a better morning, finishing fifth in FP1.
However, the four-time world champion has admitted he is not comfortable in his Red Bull at the high-speed Suzuka circuit.
"It was quite chaotic for everyone out there with all the red flags,” Verstappen said after FP2.
"Today has been quite difficult for me. We tried a lot of different things with the car but it seems like a lot of things are not really clicking at the moment, so it's quite difficult to put the lap down.
"You need a lot of confidence and commitment around here. At the moment, I don't feel like I can use that so I still have quite a bit of work to do.”
Verstappen assesses new teammate’s start
Verstappen was only just over a tenth ahead of his new Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda in sixth in first practice on Friday morning.
Tsunoda was remarkably promoted to the Red Bull main team just two races into the season, with Liam Lawson returning to the sister Racing Bulls squad following a terrible start to 2025.
Having impressed in the first session, Tsunoda was only 18th fastest in FP2 but did not complete a representative lap on the soft tyres.
"I think he started off pretty well in FP1 then FP2 was chaotic for everyone,” Verstappen commented when asked about Tsunoda’s first day.
"We have a lot of homework to do from our side to focus on the car but I think everything went quite well.”
Tsunoda’s early performance drew praise from Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and Helmut Marko.
“A very good day for Yuki and for all of our young drivers," Marko told Sky Sports F1. "Hadjar did well, and Lawson recovered.”
Verstappen was left unhappy with Red Bull’s brutal decision to swap Tsunoda and Lawson so early in the year.
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