Breaking news
Formula 1 Bahrain GP
Red Bull blames soft-tyre struggles for subdued start
Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly say Red Bull is struggling to get the most out of Pirelli's soft tyre in Bahrain.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Mar 29, 2019, 10:36 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
With the Milton Keynes-based outfit ending up behind Renault as the nearest challenger to Ferrari and Mercedes in second practice, it knows it needs to make a step forward.
But while encouraged by how their car performed on the medium compound, Red Bull's drivers say that work is needed overnight to understand why the RB15 is not delivering on the soft.
Verstappen said about his day, as he ended up sixth in FP2: "It has been okay but there is still quite a bit of work to do. I am still not happy with how the car is behaving. We will look into the data tonight to see what we can improve.
"On the medium tyre, we were really competitive. We should have been fast, but out of the last corner I had a little issue so I lost a few tenths there.
"But then on the softest tyre, I didn't feel the grip like I should have. We need to look into that."
Gasly, who ended up 12th in the second session, added: "FP1 was good. FP2 was good as well, but with the soft tyres we tried something and it didn't really work.
"We are still lacking a bit of pace with the soft tyres, but we will work tonight to find out for tomorrow."
Having beaten Ferrari in Australia, both drivers said it was not really a huge surprise to see the Maranello-based outfit strike back already.
Verstappen said: "I don't know what went wrong in Melbourne but now they are very competitive again. So that is what we expected already in Melbourne."
Gasly added: "We knew they would be fast, especially on this track. They have been fast every year and I think Australia was weird. But they clearly look very strong this weekend."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Bahrain GP: Vettel heads Ferrari 1-2 in second practice
Next article Perez: Bahrain "exposing limitations" of Racing Point F1 car
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Pierre Gasly
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
Formula 1
Formula 1
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
‘I’m sideways all the time’ – How Alpine’s feral F1 car plagued Pierre Gasly in Singapore
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
‘I’m sideways all the time’ – How Alpine’s feral F1 car plagued Pierre Gasly in Singapore
More from
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull called Christian Horner to thank him for F1 engine project after maiden win
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Red Bull called Christian Horner to thank him for F1 engine project after maiden win
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Latest news
Audi hands F3 runner-up Freddie Slater F1 practice debut
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
13 min
Audi hands F3 runner-up Freddie Slater F1 practice debut
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Brazilian GP
1 h
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
2 h
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
3 h
MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe