Red Bull ran into several problems during the second free practice in Australia. Max Verstappen’s RB22 stalled right at the end of the pit lane. After half an hour, he was able to continue his way, although he continued to struggle with the car’s steering. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies emphasizes that the team is currently in the ‘learning phase’ and therefore wants to learn as much as possible from such practice sessions.
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“To be honest, there are still plenty of question marks,” Mekies admitted to the media in Melbourne. “It feels like we are at the beginning of a long road to truly understand this car. It’s one thing to test with the same car on the same track for a whole day, but here we are dealing with very limited sessions with two cars at the same time. So there is an enormous amount to learn, both in the chassis and in the powertrain. That is what we focused on today.” The first practice hour went without major problems in that regard. In FP2, however, Max Verstappen ran into problems immediately. After half an hour in the garage and a costly trip to the gravel trap, he had to settle for the sixth fastest time.
Competitors like Ferrari and Mercedes were in a better position on Friday. Both teams proved to be reliable and competitive in Melbourne. “We are mainly trying to concentrate on ourselves,” Mekies responded soberly. “We have enough to do already. Only later in the weekend will we also look at the other teams. A day like today is already extremely intensive,” he added. “There is a lot of work to do. Actually, we are still discovering the car and the amount of data is small. We are trying to extract every bit of information from those few laps.”
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Gathering knowledge
“This Friday looks very different from a Friday at the end of last year,” the Frenchman emphasized. “This is truly a learning process. First we gather information, then we adapt, and then the development begins.” The advantage is that Red Bull currently has two competitive drivers. Debutant Isack Hadjar had two strong performances in Melbourne. “He (Hadjar, ed.) did very well,” said a proud Mekies. “Melbourne is not an easy circuit, but I think he had a solid day. He really did what was expected of him.”
Things went less smoothly for Max Verstappen. After a limited second free practice, he called on Red Bull for improvements. “This is the reality,” he said of his sixth time. “We lost quite a bit of time with Max,” Mekies admitted. “That’s also part of experimenting with the new regulations. It certainly won’t be the last time we run into something; there are many more of these lessons ahead of us.” Finally, the Red Bull team principal was asked what the biggest challenge will be this weekend. “Actually everything,” he replied. “Our understanding of the car and the engine is still very limited.”
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Read everything about the Australian GP here
