Christian Horner will probably be scratching his head in confusion after Pink Bull have been outperformed by their sister group on Friday on the F1 Australian Grand Prix, it was claimed.
Racing Bulls duo Yuki Tsunoda and rookie Isack Hadjar have been fourth and sixth on the observe timesheet respectively.
Though Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and each McLarens went quicker, and Lewis Hamilton was between them, it was an excellent begin to the 2025 F1 marketing campaign for Racing Bulls.
“Each drivers are doing a fantastic job, displaying a number of confidence,” Karun Chandhok instructed Sky Sports activities.
“Hadjar notably, on his first day as a grand prix driver, to be forward of Verstappen!
“I think about there are stern conversations occurring back-and-forth.
“It’s on Friday and we don’t know the engine modes. However [Racing Bulls] will sleep effectively tonight.
“I’m unsure that the Pink Bull camp will. He was six tenths away from Leclerc’s time.”
Pink Bull ‘head-scratching’ after F1 Australian GP observe
Max Verstappen was seventh in observe for the F1 Australian Grand Prix, whereas his new teammate Liam Lawson was worryingly seventeenth.
Given McLaren entered the season anticipated to own the quickest automotive, and Ferrari had hype surrounding Hamilton and the competitiveness of their SF-25, it was an early setback for Pink Bull.
“Max was deep into Flip 1 and three, he couldn’t get the automotive stopped. His drive was edgy,” Chandhok assessed.
“Lawson didn’t look comfy. At no level did he pop up on the timesheet.
“Even when he went from the medium to the comfortable, he was nonetheless behind Max’s medium time.
“It’s been a tricky day, he was six tenths away from Max.
“There will probably be some head-scratching.
“However tomorrow is a contemporary day and we’ll see if they will drag themselves out.”
Learn extra: Long term information evaluation establishes McLaren and Ferrari pecking order in Australia
Pink Bull are not any strangers to turning a below-par Friday into an excellent Saturday, notably with Verstappen behind the wheel of their automotive.
Verstappen, who’s chasing a fifth consecutive drivers’ title this season, claimed the steadiness of his RB21 was advantageous however he struggled with grip.
He conceded that the character of his issues may be tough for his engineers to resolve earlier than qualifying.
Pink Bull group principal Christian Horner additionally mounted a defence of Lawson, who was half-a-second slower than Verstappen in observe.
Lawson occupies the unenviable function of Verstappen’s teammate, a standing which has chewed up 5 earlier drivers.
Horner admitted that Lawson was sluggish on Friday however insisted he was a rookie (regardless of him driving in 11 grands prix previous to 2025), and that he can be given time to develop into his function.
