Longruns prove Verstappen right: Red Bull Racing has serious homework to do

11:13, 04 Apr

byTim Kraaij

Red Bull Racing has homework to do after Friday in Japan. It was the conclusion of Max Verstappen and anyone looking at the long runs understands why the Dutchman has expressed his concerns.

Normally, the second free practice is the ideal benchmark for the long runs, but in Japan this time the teams didn't get to that. Due to four red flags, some couldn't even string together a quick run, let alone a long run. Fortunately, the top teams had already gathered data during the first free practice.

What was Max Verstappen's long run pace in Japan?

The long runs were done by McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari on the medium tire, while Red Bull Racing circulated on the soft tire. Normally the faster tire, but in the long run, it didn't do Red Bull any favors. Max Verstappen achieved an average lap time of 1.34.4 and a fastest time of 1.33.9 in an 8-lap stint. Both the average time and the fastest lap were more than a second slower than McLaren's fastest times.

Lando Norris came out on top. The Brit completed a 6-lap long run on the medium tire, averaging 1.33.1 and recording the fastest lap of all with 1.32.8. Oscar Piastri and George Russell were just slightly behind Norris, but not far off.

Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli seemed to benefit from the cooler temperatures in Japan. Mercedes clearly led over a short run and in the long run as the second team. Ferrari with two drivers was close, but both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton did not match the times of Mercedes and McLaren.

Long run pace FP1 Japanese GP

There is work to be done for Red Bull Racing

For Red Bull Racing, there is clearly work to be done. The big advantage is that with Yuki Tsunoda now in the second Red Bull Racing car, there is a driver who is not miles away from Verstappen. While Liam Lawson in Australia was nearly a second slower than Verstappen during his long runs, Tsunoda is within half a second of Verstappen in both short and long runs. The team can work with that.

In addition, Red Bull Racing has repeatedly proven in recent years to be the best team when it comes to the transition from Friday to Saturday. No other team can convert Friday's data into a better car on Saturday as well as the engineering team of Red Bull Racing. The team will need to pull off that trick this weekend to be competitive on Saturday and Sunday.