Anthony Davidson says Max Verstappen is still trying to drive like ‘the good old days’ in Australia

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Max Verstappen had a spectacular and uncharacteristic off during second practice at the Australian Grand Prix. Anthony Davidson says the Red Bull star was driving like he had far more downforce.

It was a difficult FP2 for Verstappen, who stopped at the end of the pit lane when he first tried to venture out on track. While he got going again, he was limited to 13 laps.

Verstappen’s best time of a 1:20.366 was six-tenths slower than Oscar Piastri’s benchmark in the McLaren. While it’s too early to settle on a pecking order, this does tally with pre-season predictions that Red Bull are fourth-fastest.

Just 13 laps for Max Verstappen in FP2

Is reliability a concern for Red Bull?

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Anthony Davidson says Max Verstappen had ‘lapse of concentration’ in the Red Bull

During the race simulations in the closing stages of the session, Verstappen slid into the gravel at high speed on the exit of the turn nine/10 chicane. The Dutchman continued, even though he appeared to damage his bodywork.

Analysing the incident for Sky Sports, Anthony Davidson explained that even the most experienced drivers have to ‘re-learn’ corner speeds in the new generation of cars. Downforce levels have been reduced by around 30% this year.

Davidson suspects that Verstappen had a momentary ‘lapse of concentration’ and attacked turn 10 as if he had 2025 levels of grip. He has been the biggest critic of the new regulations up to this point.

“That late snap was the thing that caught him out there,” Davidson said. “Something that’s difficult for the drivers, particularly for the more experienced drivers, is re-learning corner speeds.

“Last year, you had such an impressive amount of downforce at a corner like that. If you have a lapse of concentration and you just remember the good old days, and suddenly you’re going a lot quicker than what your car can actually do, it might feel slow for you because you’re doing a race run and you just relax into it.

“Suddenly, the car doesn’t like it. That was a huge moment. He corrected it and kept the car out the barrier but it was still from his initial mistake of carrying too much speed mid-corner.”

Max Verstappen doesn’t think fans will like the 2026 F1 rules

Echoing old rival Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen says F1 fans need a ‘degree’ to understand the 2026 rules. Broadcasters will spend much of the Australian Grand Prix weekend, and the early rounds of the season, explaining the new concepts.

Sky Germany pundit Ralf Schumacher agrees that F1 is ‘too complicated’, but still feels that Verstappen should have reserved judgement until he had completed a few races.

The 28-year-old has made clear that winning is everything. Already one of the most successful racers ever, he now values the driving experience above all else.

Ultimately, fans will value close racing above all else. If the new rulebook produces that, after a largely processional 2025 season, then they can look past the idiosyncrasies of energy management.