Verstappen asks Red Bull to find a solution to 'PU inconsistency' in Brazil
· Yahoo Sports
Max Verstappen was reasonably satisfied with his first day at Interlagos, although he said Red Bull Racing still has work to do after he finished third in both Friday practice sessions.
With a lap of 1:11.022, Verstappen was just six thousandths of a second off Lando Norris in FP2. Kimi Antonelli set the fastest time of the session, finishing more than two and a half tenths ahead of the Red Bull driver.
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Meanwhile, George Russell and Oscar Piastri finished close behind Verstappen, and his teammate Isack Hadjar posted the ninth-fastest time.
Verstappen frustrated by gear changes and heavy steering
"It wasn't too bad, but we still need to find something. From our side, that has to do with the consistency of the power unit," Verstappen was quoted by his own website. "We still have a bit of work to do for tomorrow. Nothing shocking, but we do want to be a little bit better," he admitted. The four-time world champion complained about the engine's behavior in both practice sessions.
He was also unhappy with the downshifts and made that clear to his temporary race engineer, Tom Hart. Later in the session, a steering problem added to his woes. Verstappen had to apply increasing force to turn the wheel and came into the pits for an adjustment. He compared the experience to having to do a full-body workout.
In the second practice session, he again asked Red Bull to change things. Verstappen was on the medium tyres when he said he was struggling to get the car to turn in.After a brief visit to the pits, he continued his programme on the same tyres.
‘Oh, clutch, I'm shifting!’
A later conversation with Hart about the gear changes led to a funny moment. The engineer explained that Verstappen couldn't change a setting himself using a switch; the system would adapt to him.
Verstappen then wondered whether he should just talk to the engine. Hart expected the behaviour to improve, but Verstappen had already come up with a way to encourage his car. He said: "I think I should be like ‘Oh, clutch, I’m switching! You’ll be punished otherwise!’”
Red Bull continued working on its preparations for Sunday. Verstappen completed a longer stint on the soft tyres in FP1 and switched to the medium tyres for the second session, allowing the team to assess his race pace on different compounds.