Verstappen concerned by RB21's ‘pretty bad’ race pace in Mexico

Max Verstappen may have ended Friday on top of the timesheets, but the three-time world champion left the paddock with a furrowed brow rather than a victory grin at the end of the day.

After dominating the short runs in FP2 at the Mexico City Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver admitted that Red Bull’s long-run pace was “pretty bad” and a “big concern” heading into the weekend.

Verstappen sat out FP1 to allow Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad another run onboard F1 machinery, but he wasted no time reclaiming his seat in FP2. His soft-tyre flying lap was good enough to beat Charles Leclerc by 0.153s, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri further behind.

Yet, as soon as the focus switched to race simulations, the RB21’s pace fell away sharply.

Fast Over One Lap — But ‘Nowhere’ Over Distance

“The short run on the soft, we managed to do a good lap,” Verstappen said. “The rest, everything else was pretty bad.

“The medium short run was not great, and the big problem is the long runs, where we seem to struggle a lot. So that is, of course, a big concern for the race.”

Late in a 12-lap stint on medium tyres, Verstappen’s frustration spilled over the radio: “It’s terrible, I have no grip, it’s like driving on ice.”

When asked afterward what might be causing the issue, the Dutchman could only shrug.

“I don't know yet,” he said. “The balance wasn't even off. It was just no grip – that is the bigger concern. As soon as you go in a sustainable run, tyres are going hot. We were nowhere. So that's a tough one to sort out as well.”

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Despite his position at the top of the timesheets, Verstappen made it clear that one-lap pace won’t be enough to win in Mexico.

“You're not going to win the race like that,” he said. “You can be fast over one lap, but if you have absolutely zero pace in the race, then it's going to be very tough.

“So I prefer to be fast in the race and not so fast over one lap.”

Marko: ‘We Have to Find Something’

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko echoed Verstappen’s unease, describing the car’s performance as “like ice” and warning that the team could be in trouble if the situation doesn’t improve overnight.

“We saw this sort of non-grip. As you said, it was like ice. And you saw he was quite a bit sideways as well,” the Austrian said, quoted by Motorpsort.com.

“We have to find something. Otherwise, against Norris and also the Ferraris and Mercedes, it will be more than difficult.”

Marko noted that while Red Bull’s RB21 looked far more comfortable on the soft compound tyres, even then, McLaren appeared stronger.

“For the qualifying heat, we were competitive. We were also far more competitive on the soft tyre – still not as good as Norris,” he explained.

“On long runs, the way Norris was going, he’s just pulling away. If it stays like that, he’ll be gone.”

Still, Marko found one silver lining amid the concern.

“The good thing is, Norris seems to be, again, much more competitive than Piastri,” he added. “So, it's a long race, let's see what happens.”

Red Bull may have topped the charts on Friday, but both Verstappen and Marko know that if the RB21 doesn’t find its footing in the long runs, victory could easily slip away on race day.

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