Martin Brundle pointed out a 'massive' issue Max Verstappen encountered during practice at the Australian Grand Prix.
On Friday morning, the 2025 Formula 1 season officially began as FP1 and FP2 took place around the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne.
Reigning world champion Verstappen endured two tough sessions as he finished fifth in FP1 before placing seventh in the second practice.
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In FP2, Ferrari star Charles Leclerc finished top, more than six-tenths of a second quicker than Verstappen, who was slower than the likes of Yuki Tsunoda (fourth) and Isack Hadjar (sixth).
Compared to his main rivals, the Dutchman also completed less mileage when it came to doing high-fuel runs.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1, former racer Brundle claimed that Verstappen's Red Bull looked the most unstable compared to other cars.
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It was suggested that Verstappen had to correct a 'massive' slide when pushing through a high-speed chicane.
Martin Brundle on Max Verstappen's practice struggles in Melbourne
Standing near to the high-speed chicane, Brundle said: "The car that I’ve seen struggle most through here was Max Verstappen in the Red Bull actually. He had a massive swapper in the middle and really had to hoover the car up.
"It looked a little bit better that time, but it was still slightly loose at the back of the car."
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Meanwhile, Verstappen's teammate, Liam Lawson, also struggled as he finished 16th in FP1 and 17th in FP2.
Reflecting on his first two outings of the season, Verstappen said: "The balance wasn't even completely out. Like, no massive or major problems. But somehow the grip was not coming alive and just struggling on all four tyres, really, in sector one and the last sector. That means of course that we are not really up there at the moment.
"The problem is that it's not really like I have major balance problems, so I think it will be a bit hard to fix."
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He added: "But it's also nothing that I didn't expect when I arrived here, so I'm not positively or negatively surprised with the pace that we are showing."
FP3 will take place at 1:30am UK time on Saturday before qualifying gets underway at 5am.
Topics: Max Verstappen, Formula 1, Red Bull Racing
Marcus Chan