Max Verstappen’s Hungarian Grand Prix data reveals a ‘rather striking’ concern for Red Bull

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Max Verstappen will hope Red Bull can once again turn their weekend around after disappointing practice sessions amid a slow start to the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix.

The team from Milton Keynes have frequently been off the pace during the opening practice sessions for several Grands Prix in the 2025 F1 season. But Red Bull also often flip their form around before qualifying following in-depth debriefs and late-night sessions in the simulator.

Red Bull’s mechanics would have been hard at work on Friday night to try to deliver a set-up that could now see Verstappen succeed at the Hungarian GP. The 27-year-old only penned the ninth-best lap time during the morning FP1 session and fell to P14 in the FP2 timesheet.

Verstappen was 0.888 seconds off the pace in FP1 and 1.167s down in FP2, as McLaren rival Lando Norris set the pace throughout practice at the Hungarian GP on Friday. Red Bull were ninth in the FP2 order via Yuki Tsunoda, whose lap was 0.861s slower than Norris’ 1:15.624.

Max Verstappen’s Hungarian GP practice data showed a ‘striking’ deficit to Lando Norris

Much of the talk before the Hungarian GP was about Verstappen confirming “I’m staying” at Red Bull in 2026, as the Dutchman will hit the summer break after this week’s round third in the F1 drivers’ standings yet he had to rank fourth or lower for an exit clause to be available.

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But practice on Friday put the focus back on Red Bull’s car, with RacingNews365 noting that Verstappen’s data across FP1 and FP2 at the Hungarian GP revealed a ‘rather striking’ lack of pace through the Hungaroring’s medium-speed turns compared to McLaren ace Norris’ laps.

The McLaren MCL39 often excels in medium-speed corners, but Verstappen’s woes through Turns 2, 5, 6 and 12 emphasised Red Bull’s ‘Achilles heel’. The four-time defending champion arrived into those corners much slower and would accelerate out of them later than Norris.

Both Red Bull drivers even complained about a lack of overall balance during practice, as the RB21 was not consistently struggling with a lack of front-end grip or rear-end grip more than the other. It was not the start to the round Red Bull wanted with their upgrades in Budapest.

Max Verstappen admits that ‘nothing really worked’ for Red Bull in practice in Hungary

Red Bull trialled a new front wing and new front brake ventilation during practice this Friday at the Hungarian GP, but their upgrades did not prevent Verstappen from branding the RB21 “undrivable”. His race pace was even almost a second per lap slower than McLaren’s times.

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Ferrari and Mercedes both appeared to be a step in front of Red Bull during FP1 and FP2, as well. Even Aston Martin had both cars in the top five in FP2, as only Norris, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc were faster on their qualifying sims than Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.

Red Bull’s lack of grip during practice on Friday was Verstappen’s biggest cause for concern at the end of the day. Verstappen, who is also set to start his 200th Grand Prix with Red Bull in Hungary on Sunday, was also at a loss to explain why they were so far off McLaren’s pace.

“Today was very tough,” Verstappen noted, via the official F1 website. “Just really a low-grip feeling and not really a balance in the car. It’s difficult to say what is even the exact problem [is], nothing really worked. It’s something that we have to investigate overnight.”