“We are too slow,” was the rocket science inspired verdict of Red Bull’s Dr. Helmut Marko. Following Verstappen’s win in Japan last weekend, hopes were high for the Milton Keynes based squad particularly since Mclaren have never gone particularly well in Bahrain
Heading into the weekend McLaren’s Lando Norris admitted his team have had a great start to the season, “but it’s [Bahrain] a much slower speed circuit than the last few weekends. We still know that’s one of our weaker areas. I’m not expecting bad things, I’m just expecting a trickier weekend than the last few.”
The British driver leading the world championship appeared somewhat spooked after Verstappen’s domination at Suzuka. Stating “Red Bull are close; they’re not that far off, maybe one-tenth or maybe two-tenths, but that’s it and it’s still not a lot of time.”
Norris false tip on Red Bull
Lando was cautious about the MCL39 lacking in qualifying pace but pointed to the fact that even in pre-season testing the car was far better when on longer runs which would suit them in the race. Come Friday morning in the desert of the middle east and the heat was scorching. Ted Kravitz, pit lane reporter for Sky said later he was just hoping he “survived the session”.
Despite the lack of grip reported by most of the drivers, Lando Norris for the fourth time this season topped the timesheets in FP1. His team mate Oscar Piastri was a distant tenth some 1.3 seconds off the pace of his team mate, while Max Verstappen sat out the session as Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa was awarded his first FP1 drive for the Red Bull team.
The Japanese driver was nowhere don in P18 as he struggled to get to grips with the tricky handling of the RB20. Yuki Tsunoda looked promising as he finished one place ahead of Piastri but this was as good as it got for the Japanese driver he fell to third from last, while Verstappen returned to his Red Bull car and in early running looked impressive.
On the soft tyre, Verstappen topped the timesheets a third of the way through the session yet as the track rubbered in and the temperatures dropped, the real pace of the competition became apparent. Oscar Piastri finished the session top, with team mate Lando Norris second but 0.15seconds slower than his team mate.
Verstappen not made top 6 in practice this year
Verstappen continued his practice form across the first four weekends of the year, again finishing outside the top six. Team mate Tsunoda had a miserable afternoon finishing down in P18, but the gap to Verstappen was a whopping 3/4 of a second and 1.5 seconds off the time of Piastri.
Red Bull have a knack of finding a solution over night on Fridays as evidenced in Japan when Verstappen made up almost 6/10ths of a second to claim pole ahead of the McLaren’s, yet the simulator task tonight is the biggest of the year. The team found over half a second in Japan before qualifying but the task on Friday is surely too great even for them.
Tsunoda was two tenths ahead of his team mate in FP2 in the land of the rising sun, but bombed in qualifying. His job to get close to his team mate in Bahrain looks downright impossible. Despite being assured on his promotion to Red Bull by Dr. Marko that he would remain in the Red Bull seat until the end of the season, Yuki qualified behind both the Racing Bulls and the driver he replaced last time out and again in Bahrain FP2 he was way behind both Lawson’s and Hadjar.
Isack Hadjar is proving a revelation following his embarrassing crash on the way to the grid in Australia and his two P7 Grand Prix starts in China and Japan have turned heads. He finished the Friday afternoon session almost three quarters of a second behind Tsunoda who admitted later he was ‘all at sea.’
Its a joke around the paddock about Verstappen
Tsunnoda makes embarrassing admission
The honest appraisal of the Japanese driver was shocking as he claimed the communication between him and the team left a lot to be desired and that he struggled with switches on the steering wheel – fairly basic stuff he should now have acclimatised to in the simulator.
A down beat Yuki said in the media pen: “Bit of learning, I guess. It’s a bit different, the set up between the cars, to see how the performance looks like. But also, just this session was pretty messy overall, being able to put it all together.
“There was a lot of miscommunication between our side of the garage, on the radio, for example. That’s part of the learning process, because it’s still the fifth session from the when I jumped in [to the Red Bull], but was obviously not the finest session.”
Tsunoda overall has been closer to Verstappen than was Lawson, but the gulf is wide at present and the pressure will grow quickly should he fail to improve and get closer to his team mate. He played lip service to being “optimistic” for Saturday qualifying but admitted making it into Q3 was unlikely.
Hadjar stakes Red Bull seat claim
“I hope it’ll be better,” said the bemused Japanese driver before almost pleading “[It] has to be better than this. I’m sure we’re gonna change a lot of things. For now, the team is struggling, but at the same time, I know a lot will come from cleaner operations and everything.
“So that’s kind of freed up time, so I’m still feeling optimistic. But, yeah, it will be hard for now to go through to Q3.””
Dr. Helmut Marko said it all when he was asked about Isack Hadjar’s impact on F1 this year. “Hadjar is a big surprise. This is a circuit he knows, but everywhere we come, immediately he’s on speed, and very unspectacular, he provides a super performance,” Marko said. Meanwhile the Racing Bull’s driver is chomping at the bit to show his worth alongside Max Verstappen. “Honestly, now that it seems like it’s really hard to be next to Max, it makes me want to go even more, to find out why, what’s going on. That’s still the main target,” said the Racing Bull;s rookie driver.
Red Bull need Tsunoda to be a regular Q3 contender and Q3 and Q2 exits will as sure as eggs are eggs send the Red Bull enclave back into session. Hadjar by contrast looks a revelation and a third Q3 visit in a row tomorrow will see the French-Algerian driver stake a claim to be the next in the Red Bull driver merry-go-round.
Video: Verstappen slams McLaren for cheating
F1 drivers say 2026 engines are ‘not good’
One of the biggest stories in Formula One history is brewing following remarkable comments in China from the FI official in charge of day to day affairs in the sport. Nicolas Tombazis revealed there are widespread concerns over the 2026 regulations and the risk of “Frankenstein” monsters appearing on the grid next year is very real.
In summary the FIA has opened the door to scrapping the 2026 new power units despite the tens of millions the manufacturers have spent on their developing over the past eighteen months. A more moderate option was also offered by Tombazis who suggested the five year life span of the new powertrains could be reduced to just two, whilst agreement is found on a return to internal combustion engines with bio fuel which would replace the hated V6 hybrids.
The cost of the highly complex power units is eye watering and a return to V8/V10 technology could slash the cost to customer teams by as much as 75%. “Certainly the progress with sustainable fuels has led to views that maybe the engines could be simpler. The world economy does lead to views that maybe we should try to cut costs a bit more, and the current power units are way too expensive. That is a fact,”Tombazis said…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
