Red Bull drivers downbeat after first day in Singapore with chances ‘not looking great’

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez expressed concerns about Red Bull’s potential at the Singapore Grand Prix after a difficult pair of Friday practice sessions for the reigning world champions.

Perez and Verstappen wound up eighth and 15th respectively in the more representative FP2 hour, with qualifying and the race to be held at a similar time, and both drivers complained about the handling of their cars post-session.

FP2: Norris edges out Leclerc as Russell crashes during second practice in Singapore

Asked to sum up his day in the car, having finished 1.2 seconds off the pace, Verstappen said: “Difficult. It’s just not having the grip that we would like, so we have a few things to look at there.”

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 20: Sparks fly behind Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving — Verstappen was only 15th on the timesheets in FP2, some 1.2 seconds off the pace

Pushed if the kerbs and bumps were giving Red Bull a headache, he added: “It’s less of a problem, to be honest. I was not really struggling with the bumps or the kerbs, just general grip.”

Perez offered a similar assessment to the Dutchman after commenting over the radio during second practice that the balance of his RB20 was “all over the place”.

Reviewing the two practice sessions, and whether any progress was made between FP1 and FP2, he sighed: “I think we improved a little bit, but still we are lacking quite a lot of balance. It’s quite difficult out there to put a lap together, [so] it’s not looking great at the moment.”

Perez went on to comment that the level of Red Bull’s struggles “took us by surprise” despite the problems they faced at the Marina Bay Street Circuit last season.

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 20: Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing — Perez was a few tenths quicker than team mate Verstappen in eighth position

“Definitely we’ve got some work to do overnight because we are quite far [behind],” said the Mexican, who was 0.871s down on pace-setting McLaren rival Lando Norris.

“We are nearly a second off the pace, so we need quite a big change to be able to come through. We’ll see what we’re able to do.”

Red Bull head into the weekend 20 points adrift of McLaren in the constructors’ championship, having lost the lead last time out in Azerbaijan, while Verstappen is 59 points ahead of Norris in the drivers’ standings.