Max Verstappen had a tough day at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola. Despite Red Bull’s updated car, the team struggled to keep up with the pace, leaving Verstappen visibly frustrated.
Max Verstappen didn’t hold back after a challenging day of practice at Imola. The world championship leader sounded the alarm, stating, ‘We were seriously behind the pace today, we have to fix that.’ In both practice sessions, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the charts while Verstappen’s Red Bull lagged significantly.
Verstappen managed to secure fifth place in the first session, just 0.250s behind his teammate Sergio Perez. However, by the second session, he dropped to seventh, with the gap extending to over half a second. ‘Just a difficult day, difficult to find a good balance. I just don’t feel comfortable in the car, it’s moving a lot and it’s very easy to lose the car,’ he lamented, adding that he even had a few wild moments navigating through the gravel and over kerbs.
The Dutchman’s frustration wasn’t just with his car. On a fast lap, he had a run-in with his 2021 World Cup rival, Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen made his displeasure clear over the radio, pointing out it wasn’t the first time Hamilton had gotten in his way. ‘You know, it’s not the first time. Of course, you always try to stay calm, but yeah, it just happened again,’ he noted.
Red Bull introduced major updates to their RB20 car, including a revised underbody, a new front wing, and sharpened rear bodywork. Despite these changes aimed at enhancing performance, they seemed to come with teething problems. Technical director Pierre Wache acknowledged the pressure the team felt to stay ahead, particularly as competitors like Ferrari appeared to be catching up.
As the team looks ahead to the next day, Verstappen remained focused on improvement, stating, ‘We have to look at a few things now because it was just bad and not pleasant. The long run was also really bad. So there are definitely some things we need to improve if we want to be competitive tomorrow.’
It was a rough start to the weekend for Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team at Imola. With significant updates to their car not yet delivering the expected performance, the team has their work cut out for them if they hope to remain competitive.
