Longruns back Verstappen and Marko: Red Bull falls short

Both Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko were clear after the second free practice in Bahrain: Red Bull Racing falls short compared to it's competitors, even in the long runs. The data from FP2 confirms their words. Unless the Austrian team makes a big step on Saturday, they may face a tough weekend.

Verstappen and Marko raise the alarm at Red Bull

The RB21 struggles in the high temperatures, especially evident in the long runs. According to Marko, the team struggles to control the tire temperatures, causing Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda to deal with overheated tires and a lack of grip. This not only leads to a loss of speed but also deteriorates tire degradation.

Where Red Bull can normally rely on a low engine mode in the practice sessions, it was of little help this time. In the second free practice, Verstappen could only match Lando Norris's pace in a few laps, but McLaren remained consistently faster. James Allison, technical director of Mercedes, mentioned a gap of three tenths. Marko responded clearly: "Unfortunately, it's more than that."

Verstappen also spoke plainly after his challenging start to the Formula 1 weekend in Bahrain: "We are just too slow." The Red Bull driver only managed P7 in the second free practice, trailing fastest man Oscar Piastri by over eight tenths. Verstappen faced bouncing, brake issues, and a lack of grip, resulting in a lack of confidence in his first runs of the weekend.

Long runs confirm Verstappen's concerns

Based on the long-run data, Red Bull indeed seems to lag behind the competition. Both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris averaged low 38s, with Piastri once again the fastest. Verstappen remained around eight tenths behind the fastest man in his long runs, who was also on the hard compound. Performance-wise, there doesn't seem to be much difference between the softs and the mediums, although the soft tires will naturally degrade faster during the race. Verstappen noted this in conversation with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase at the end of his long run.

Yuki Tsunoda had to concede significantly to Verstappen, although the Japanese driver was on the mediums. The same applied to Charles Leclerc, who posted similar lap times as teammate Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes drivers George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli seem able to compete with the Ferrari drivers, while Verstappen is not far behind. However, it is clear that McLaren, even in the long runs, is miles ahead of the rest.

Long runs FP2 for F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain