- Verstappen ended Friday P7 and P10 after major balance issues at Suzuka.
- Red Bull swings from understeer in FP1 to oversteer in FP2.
- Verstappen reports big losses in high-speed sector one, with no quick fix.
Max Verstappen described Red Bull’s difficult Friday at the Japanese GP in simple terms after practice at Suzuka. The four-time world champion said the car swung “from one extreme to another,” leaving the team searching for answers ahead of qualifying.
He finished seventh in FP1 and slipped to 10th in FP2. Across both sessions, he struggled with balance and grip, and Red Bull failed to find a stable setup.
The result left Verstappen more than 1.3 seconds off the pace by the end of the day, a rare sight at a circuit where he has been dominant in recent seasons.
FP1: Understeer and a troubled opening
Friday began with clear signs of trouble. Verstappen complained early about a lack of rotation as the RB22 pushed wide through Suzuka’s fast corners.
George Russell led FP1 with a 1:31.666 for Mercedes, with Kimi Antonelli close behind. McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri followed, while Verstappen could only manage seventh with a 1:32.457.
That left him nearly eight tenths off the pace. For a driver used to fighting at the front, the gap was significant.
Red Bull arrived with updates and used flow-vis paint on the rear wing to gather data. The team was still trying to understand the car.
At Suzuka, that is a problem. The Esses, Spoon, and 130R demand confidence, and the car did not give Verstappen that.
FP2: Things got worse for Max Verstappen
Red Bull changed the setup before FP2. The goal was to fix the understeer. Instead, the balance swung too far the other way.
Verstappen now fought oversteer, especially through the Esses. The car snapped more than once as he tried to push.
Conditions did not help. The wind picked up, and other drivers also had moments, including Charles Leclerc. But while others adapted, Red Bull could not settle the car.
By the end of the session, Oscar Piastri led with a 1:30.133 for McLaren. Antonelli and Russell followed for Mercedes.
Verstappen dropped to 10th with a 1:31.509. He was 1.376 seconds off the pace.
The gap told its own story. He was more than eight-tenths slower than Norris in fourth, and over half a second behind Lewis Hamilton, the slowest of the top teams.
Verstappen’s own words paint a bleak picture
After the session, Verstappen spoke openly about the day.
“We just struggled a lot more with the balance of the car, grip,” he said via Motorsport.
He then summed up the core issue. “I had two opposites today, and the problem is that we never get it together, basically. You go from one extreme to another extreme. And that is just bleeding a lot of lap time.”
He pointed to the first sector as the main weakness. “Not similar to China, but we’re still off. We’re still not really understanding why we’re that far off in sector one. Basically, medium- to high-speed corners. That’s something that we need to work on.”
That part of the track includes the Esses, where rhythm matters. Losing time there hurts every lap.
When asked if the team could fix it overnight, Verstappen kept his expectations low. “It’s very difficult to solve at the moment, so I don’t expect miracles overnight. We just need to understand our issues a bit more, where they are coming from.”
What comes next
The problem is not limited to one side of the garage. Isack Hadjar finished 15th, about three tenths behind Verstappen, after his own difficult day.
That suggests a wider issue with the car. It is not just a setup choice or driving style.
Red Bull now faces a tight turnaround before qualifying. The gap to the front is clear, and the car’s balance remains unsettled.
There is time after this race to regroup. A long break in the calendar will allow the team to study the data and work on fixes. But that comes later. For now, Verstappen and Red Bull must deal with what they have at Suzuka.
As Friday ended, the picture was simple. The speed is missing, the balance is unclear, and the answers are not yet there for the four-time world champion.
