Verstappen: We didn’t get the balance we had hoped for

Friday, 22 July 2022 at 20:06

Max Verstappen suggested the half-second gap to Ferrari in FP2 was due to his struggling to find the right setup in the Red Bull at the end of day one of the 2022 French Grand Prix weekend.

The gap of 0.555s is pretty huge, although it was expected that Circuit Paul Ricard would suit the F1-75 better than the RB18.

Verstappen explained the deficit in the Red Bull team report on Friday: "I think FP2 was a little bit more difficult for us than FP1 as we didn’t get the balance we had hoped for and also trying different things with the car.

"We’ll have a look at it all overnight and of course try to be quicker. I think the long run is better but the tyres are running really hot so it’s difficult to judge where you really are.

"Overall, this track is tough on tyres, I think we all needed a few more laps to have a more accurate look at the long runs, added the reigning F1 World Champion.

Red Bull are chasing Ferrari on a track that suits the Reds

LE CASTELLET, FRANCE - JULY 22: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on in the garage during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of France at Circuit Paul Ricard on July 22, 2022 in Le Castellet, France. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Notably, Ferrari found 1.4s between sessions while Verstappen only found a second which accounted for the difference.

In the sister car, Sergio Perez typically was unable to match his younger teammate as he tends to slow start his weekends to reach a peak in Qualy and the race. In FP1, Checo was 1.1s shy of Verstappen's effort, the pair were second and sixth respectively.

In FP2, Checo found a tenth on Max but the rest of the field also caught a hurry-up, and at the end of FP2 the Mexican was 10th; Max third, behind the Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, first and second on the timesheets.

Perez's session got going late, he revealed afterwards: “We had a delay in this session due to a bit of an issue with one of the roll bars but it was nothing major. I am not overly comfortable with the car at the moment, I think there is some good work and understanding to be done overnight.

"We also only had a short stint on the soft tyre but hopefully tomorrow we are able to pull it all together and be in the fight for qualifying and the race on Sunday," added Perez.

At the halfway mark and ahead of round 12 on Sunday, Verstappen on 208 points leads the 2022 F1 drivers' standings by 38 points from Leclerc, 57 over Perez and 75 ahead of Sainz; Red Bull lead the constructors' championship with Ferrari trailing them by 56 points.