Newey reveals what was wrong with Verstappen's RB18

Red Bull explains poor FP2

In FP1, Verstappen and Sergio Perez were still in good shape. The Dutchman in particular drove fast times. Verstappen did get overtaken on the timesheet by Lewis Hamilton, but this seemed mainly due to the timing of his fast lap; the track was getting faster by the minute. In FP2, Red Bull Racing fared less well. Perez did not even make the top five and Verstappen only drove a few laps in the very last minutes of the session.

Friday was not a flawless preparation for Red Bull and Auto Motor und Sport quotes team consultant Dr Marko and chief engineer Newey. Indeed, Newey revealed that Verstappen's problems were related to the front suspension composition. In the six minutes Verstappen was able to use from his practice session, he still achieved the fourth fastest time. From the Red Bull garage came the sounds: "We have the speed."

There is still speed to be gained for Red Bull

Marko says of Friday: "It didn't work. The changes we wanted to make took us a lot of time and it didn't help anything. We couldn't tune the car the way we wanted. In a way, the car refused." Marko is glad that fortunately there were some long runs in the morning, as the second free practice was also below par from Perez. Marko indicates that there were other reasons for this. According to AMuS, the rumour is that the engine's 'mapping' was not right, which meant the Honda power unit was not functioning optimally. On tyre selection, the team is still totally undecided. Marko says that in FP3 the focus will be on that.