Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar believe “there are still so many unknowns for us” ahead of this weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, despite a recent improvement in performance.
Red Bull enter this weekend having taken two podiums from the last two events, with Verstappen reaching the rostrum in Canada and Hadjar doing likewise in Monaco just a week ago.
But with cold conditions in Canada and the unique layout of Monaco, Verstappen is unsure how the team’s RB22 will perform on a more traditional circuit with hot weather expected.
“Great memories here in general but at the same time, there are still so many unknowns for us that we first have to see how it goes in practice,” said Verstappen during Thursday’s media day.
“I have no idea at the moment how these tyres are going to operate with the hotter temperatures. That’s why I think in practice it’s important to get a basic understanding of what’s going on, what we need to do. I think at the moment it’s still a little bit unknown.”
Verstappen confirmed that he would be running a new engine in Barcelona after problems in Monaco meant his front row start was wasted as he failed to get off the line, adding “Monaco didn’t have the ending that we wanted but life goes on.”
In contrast, Hadjar enjoyed his best weekend since joining Red Bull at the start of the season and came away with the second F1 rostrum of his career.
The Frenchman believes the characteristics of the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit will be more similar to Suzuka earlier in the season, where Hadjar finished P12 and Verstappen P8.
“You go into this weekend, you expect similar performance to a track like Japan – high-speed corners, energy demanding track – so you’re doubting a lot [the performance],” explained Hadjar.
“Since then [Japan], we’ve had upgrades on the car and we made sure when we come back to these types of tracks, we’re feeling better. Tomorrow we’ll know more.”
