Verstappen eyes 'recovery' after subdued start in Abu Dhabi

Newly crowned F1 world champion Max Verstappen has set a modest target of competing in the top six for Red Bull during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, following an unexpectedly subdued start to the sport’s final race weekend of the season.

Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez both struggled for pace in Friday's practice sessions, leaving Red Bull searching for answers to close the gap to the front runners.

During the second practice session at the Yas Marina Circuit, Verstappen ended the day 17th, while Perez finished 14th. Both drivers were more than a second off the leading time set by McLaren’s Lando Norris, who continued his team’s strong form.

Reflecting on his team’s performance, Verstappen admitted that Red Bull is not in a position to match the frontrunning pace displayed by so far by its McLaren rival.

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However, the Dutchman was expressed cautious optimism that overnight improvements are in the works.

“I’m sure that we can do better,” Verstappen said after Friday’s running. “I’m not saying that we’ll be like McLaren level because they seem very quick so far this weekend.

“But at least if we can fight in that top six, I think that will be a good recovery because so far, it’s been quite tricky.”

Verstappen, who frequently complained of a lack of front end grip in FP2, outlined the core issue Red Bull faces.

“[There’s] just not a very good balance to be honest," he said. "Just no connected balance from entry to mid-corner and that makes it then of course difficult to, well, basically push and that’s something that we have to work on overnight.”

Sergio Perez, who completed both practice sessions while Verstappen sat out FP1 to allow junior driver Isack Hadjar track time, painted a similar picture of the car’s issues.

While he praised the car’s long-run potential, Perez noted significant challenges over one lap, a critical area in Abu Dhabi given its high emphasis on qualifying performance.

“Over one lap it’s quite tricky,” Perez admitted. “I think we’ve got some work to do. The long run it’s a lot more promising but yeah, over one lap we need to find… we need to try and connect the car.

“We’ve been trying a lot of stuff out there but it’s just not coming together at the moment.”

Perez elaborated on the car’s contrasting behavior depending on fuel loads, emphasizing how drastically its characteristics change.

“The car is not feeling tremendously bad at the moment," he said. "It’s just slow over one lap so yeah, some work to do there. The car feels very different when we go with fuel so that’s the biggest standout at the moment.”

When asked to assess the RB20’s race pace, Perez was cautiously optimistic but reiterated the need to address the one-lap deficit to remain competitive.

“The long run was very promising but yeah, we’ve got some work to do to make sure that we are able to stay competitive,” Perez concluded.

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