Max Verstappen said that, while there were “no major problems” driving his Red Bull RB21, he acknowledged the team’s pace is “not really up there at the moment.”

Verstappen was seventh fastest in FP2 on Friday, with both sister Racing Bulls cars ahead of the Red Bull drivers following qualifying simulations at Albert Park.

Max Verstappen admits Red Bull ‘not really up there’ after Aus GP practice

The reigning World Champion was more than half a second quicker than new team-mate Liam Lawson on Friday, but with teams finally showing their hand after pre-season testing, senior advisor Helmut Marko admitted McLaren appear to be “the strongest team” in the field, before a close fight between Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.

With Verstappen stating he did not feel major issues behind the wheel during practice, he also hinted the speed Red Bull have relative to their rivals may have been known to him before the weekend, being “not positively or negatively surprised” by Friday’s outcome.

He said after Friday’s running: “I mean, to be honest, 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.

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“That means, of course, we are not really up there at the moment.

“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, but it’s also nothing that I didn’t expect when I arrived here – so I’m not positively or negatively surprised with the pace that we are showing.”

Verstappen retired from last season’s edition of the Australian Grand Prix with a brake issue, but the four-time World Champion explained Albert Park has been something of a difficult circuit for Red Bull to navigate in the past regardless, which may go some way towards explaining why their rivals have an early lead.

“We’ve never really been that good here, since that new tarmac got paved – so for sure it’s it’s not really helping,” he reasoned.

“But still, it’s the same for everyone, so we just have to make sure that we find a bit more pace but, at the moment, we are definitely lacking a bit to fight up front.”

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