Red Bull Concerned by Mercedes' Strong Pace in Baku

Red Bull is concerned by Mercedes' strong performance in the second free practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

Mercedes set the pace

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli finished in the first two places in FP2, Russel was first, setting a time of 1:43.347. On the other hand, Max Verstappen was third, just 0.827 seconds behind the Mercedes driver.

Red Bull technical director - Pierre Waché, admitted that the gap to the mercedes cars was bigger than they expected. However, he was positive about the team's new RB22 upgrade package, saying that the data from the track largely matched the team's simulator numbers.

Red Bull looks to close the gap

Waché explained that Red Bull still needs to improve the stability of the rear of the car and make its behaviour more predictable, because of Verstappen's reports about the steering corrections that he needed to make during FP2.

The team hopes that differences in the programmes used by Mercedes and Red Bull was the main reason for the gap. However, Red Bull's technical director acknowledged that Mercedes looked significantly faster, particularly on the long straights in Baku.