Verstappen: Red Bull needs to solve F1 grip issues at Monza

Max Verstappen says Red Bull has work to do and needs to solve some balance and grip issues that held its performance back during Friday practice for Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix.

Verstappen ended the day with the fifth-fastest time and was over a second adrift from the dominant Mercedes duo at Monza.

The Dutchman was struggling with balance and grip in his RB16 throughout the day and suffered an off during first practice when he spun off at Ascari.

“It was not a good day,” Verstappen admitted. “Struggling with balance and grip in general. Still quite a bit of work to do.

“First we just have to solve our grip issues, and then normally if we have quite a balanced car, then the tyre wear should be OK.”

Red Bull teammate Alex Albon enjoyed a better day, setting the third-quickest time in FP1 before he saw his best lap deleted for a track limits infringement in the afternoon.

“It was feeling OK in the morning and I still feel like the afternoon wasn’t too bad, it just needs a bit of a touch-up,” Albon explained.

“It’s just very close out there, as we expected. It will be tricky to get, a tenth is going to be four positions I reckon.

“We’ve got to do some homework and get the car just a little bit better in the comparison between the low speed and high speed.”
Asked whether he feels Red Bull is losing more in the corners or the straights, Albon replied: “I think it’s a bit of both, but actually, we’ve got some potential in the corners.

“It’s just more fine-tuning balance. I think we know what we want, just need to get it.”