Red Bull drivers struggling on soft tyres after Bahrain GP practice
Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly say Red Bull is struggling to get the most out of Pirelli's soft Formula 1 tyre in Bahrain
With Red Bull ending up behind Renault as the nearest challenger to Ferrari and Mercedes in second practice for this weekend's second round of the 2019 season, it knows it needs to make a step forward.
But while the drivers were encouraged by how their car performed on the medium compound in practice on Friday, both explained that Red Bull needs to work overnight to understand why the RB15 is not as competitive on the soft rubber.
After ending up sixth in FP2, Verstappen said: "It has been OK but there is still quite a bit of work to do. I am still not happy with how the car is behaving.
"We will look into the data tonight to see what we can improve.
"On the medium tyre, we were really competitive. We should have been fast, but out of the last corner I had a little issue so I lost a few tenths there.
"But then on the softest tyre, I didn't feel the grip like I should have. We need to look into that."
"We are still lacking a bit of pace with the soft tyres, but we will work tonight to find out for tomorrow."
After beating Ferrari in Australia, both Red Bull drivers said it was not a huge surprise to see their rival outfit strike back.
"I don't know what went wrong in Melbourne but now they are very competitive again," said Verstappen. "So that is what we expected."
Gasly added: "We knew they would be fast, especially on this track. They have been fast every year and I think Australia was weird. But they clearly look very strong this weekend."
Share Or Save This Story
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Jon Noble: An unfair perception or a genuine concern? Lifting the lid on Red Bull’s Tsunoda scepticism
What caused Verstappen’s F1 Dutch GP crash
Wolff jokes that Mercedes already has Verstappen for the "real hero races"
The hidden benefit of Verstappen’s new F1 deal that Red Bull wants to exploit
What makes Norris say “I don't have a car to fight for the championship”?
FIA explains safety car formation lap after F1 driver criticism at Dutch GP
Norris made his own life difficult again - but his recovery was stunning in Zandvoort's swansong
BTCC Donington Park: Morgan doubles up with dominant victory
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments