Red Bull has been unable to match Mercedes’ top speed in recent races, most notably in Brazil , when Lewis Hamilton came from behind on both Saturday and Sunday to take victory.
More than three-quarters of the lap around the Jeddah circuit is at top speed, which seems to favor the current Mercedes package.
Hamilton led both free practice sessions in Saudi Arabia on Friday, but Verstappen was able to finish within two tenths of his title rival. The Dutchman leads the Briton by eight points in the drivers’ championship with two races to go.
But Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said after second practice that the track was narrower than expected, meaning engine power was not as crucial as first thought.
“The circuit is a bit tighter than the data would suggest,” Horner told Sky Sports F1 .
“The corners are a little bit tighter. Not all the emphasis is on power like we thought it would be, so that’s encouraging.
“It has been seen that there are one or two tenths between the two cars, between the drivers. On this type of circuit, you can find something like that, and that is really encouraging for us.
Red Bull questioned Mercedes’ rear wing design in Brazil after noticing a big difference in straightline speed, and threatened to protest in Qatar two weeks ago.
The FIA introduced extra rear wing checks during the Qatar weekend which had no regulatory impact but left Red Bull satisfied.
“I think after the introduction of the new test in Qatar, we have seen a convergence in speed,” Horner said in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
“We’ve seen very similar speeds here again today. So that’s encouraging, and hopefully it stays that way this weekend and next.”
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Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images
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Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
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Max Verstappen focused on testing the hard tires for much of early practice in Jeddah, but struggled to match Mercedes’ pace when switching to the softer compounds.
“We had problems warming up the tires in the second session, which of course we will look into,” explained the championship leader.
“Then we made some changes from the first to the second session that didn’t quite work, but hopefully we can find the right balance in qualifying.”
“We feel very strong on the hard tyre, and the softer the compound, the more difficult it becomes to get it into the right temperature spot and get the most out of it,” added Horner.
“There will be a lot of analysis tonight, about laps without traffic and preparation and all that kind of stuff.
“Listening to the comments I don’t think we are the only ones. I think there were other teams struggling to get into the right window of operation.”
“But once you unlock that, you can tell there’s a lot of performance in there.
