Max Verstappen shared a damning verdict about his Red Bull RB22 after FP2 at the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday, saying he simply did not have a good day. The Dutchman explained that he and the team need to do a lot of work overnight to find an optimal balance ahead of qualifying on Saturday.
While Verstappen had a torrid time during parts of the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix, the Japanese GP weekend has started in even worse fashion for him. The Red Bull Racing driver ended FP1 in P7, nearly-eighths tenths behind the leader, and finished FP2 in P10, over 1.3 seconds off the pace.
After the session, Verstappen delivered a glum verdict about his car and performance, explaining that both Friday sessions were awful for him, even though the team tried completely different approaches in both.
“Yeah, not very good to be honest, lacking balance, grip. Two opposites from FP1 to FP2, and both of them are not very good. So from our side, a lot of work to be done to understand why we’re having these kind of like big problems at the moment. But yeah, not a good day,” said Verstappen [via F1TV].
When asked if the team made major changes between sessions on Friday, Verstappen replied, saying:
“Yeah, you just try to correct one thing and then you get another issue, but never finding a good balance, basically.”
The 2026 F1 season hasn’t gone exactly to plan for Max Verstappen, with struggles mainly from Red Bull’s side. He crashed in qualifying for the Australian GP due to a technical issue on the RB22, and then had to retire from the Chinese GP due to a car problem. Now, the 4x world champion finds himself in a difficult position at the Japanese GP on the first day of the weekend.
Max Verstappen not expecting Red Bull to perform “miracles overnight” amid struggles at the Japanese GP
Max Verstappen shared that he was not expecting Red Bull to perform a “miracle” overnight and fix all the RB22’s issues before Saturday at the Japanese GP. The 28-year-old said that the problems with his car seem difficult to solve at the moment.
Adding that he and the team need to understand the issues more deeply, Verstappen said:
“It’s very difficult to solve at the moment, so I don’t expect miracles overnight. We just need to probably understand our issues a bit more, where they are coming from.”
While Red Bull looks to be nowhere near the front-running Mercedes, McLaren or Ferrari teams in Japan, Max Verstappen also finished behind an Audi, Haas and a Williams in FP2, making for much worse viewing for the outfit. Isack Hadjar finished the session in P15, close to three-tenths behind his teammate, highlighting the Austrian team’s peril at Suzuka.
Edited by nagpaltusharn25
