Red Bull Struggles in Long Runs as Verstappen Voices Concerns After Canadian FP1

Red Bull Racing ended Friday's practice in Canada with the slowest long-run pace among the top four teams, raising early concerns for the sprint weekend. Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar logged the most laps on the hard tyre, but their average times were several tenths slower than Mercedes and Ferrari, with Verstappen openly critical of the car's handling.

Why it matters:

With only one practice session before sprint qualifying, Red Bull faces a tight window to resolve balance issues. Verstappen's warning signals that the RB22 may lack the consistency needed to challenge for podium positions this weekend, especially after Mercedes and McLaren brought significant upgrades.

The details:

• Verstappen and Hadjar each completed 10+ laps on hards in FP1, the longest runs of any top-team driver.
• However, Red Bull's average lap time was 1:16.774 for Verstappen and 1:16.934 for Hadjar.
• Mercedes' George Russell averaged 1:15.990, while Kimi Antonelli posted 1:16.131 — roughly 0.7-0.8 seconds faster than the Red Bulls.
• Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was quickest overall with a 1:16.002 average over six laps, though Lewis Hamilton struggled at 1:16.430.
• McLaren's Oscar Piastri averaged 1:16.356, also comfortably ahead of Red Bull.
• Verstappen did not mince words: “I didn’t feel good in the car. It felt really bad. My feet were flying off the pedals. That made it very difficult to be consistent.”

What's next:

Red Bull will treat Saturday's sprint race as an extended test session, hoping to dial in setup changes under limited track time. Verstappen will need to extract maximum performance from a car he currently finds unstable, while the team works to close the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari before qualifying.