Max Verstappen confirmed that Red Bull do believe an “electrical issue” was behind his early FP2 exit in Canada, as they now assess the “implications”.
Verstappen is looking to bounce back from a tough weekend in Monaco where he was restricted to a P6 finish, though encountered further frustration on Friday at the Canadian Grand Prix as his FP2 session, literally, went up in smoke.
Max Verstappen admits Canada FP2 woes ‘not ideal’
Additional reporting by Sam Cooper
The World Championship leader was restricted to just four laps of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in the second practice session having returned his smoking Red Bull RB20 to the garage, an issue which would prove terminal.
Red Bull suspected it to be related to the Energy Recovery System, validated by Verstappen, who admitted this was “definitely not” how he wanted his FP2 session to play out as he now waits to learn of the “implications” as Red Bull carry out their investigation.
“Yeah, unfortunately in FP2, not many laps for me,” he told the Formula 1 website.
“There was a suspected electrical issue so they told me to box and they’re investigating now. I haven’t been back in the garage yet, but I’m sure soon we’ll figure out what it is.
“It’s not ideal. I would have liked to drive more laps. Some other people had a few more laps in the dry, a few more laps now in the wet.
“It’s definitely not how I would have liked to get on in FP2, but I think it’s more important to just figure out what actually happened, and what kind of implications that will have for this weekend or the rest of the year.”
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After winning four of the opening five races in F1 2024, McLaren and Ferrari appear to have closed in on Red Bull, with McLaren’s Lando Norris winning in Miami and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claiming victory in Monaco.
And as Verstappen looks to fight back against his potential title challengers, he confirmed that he is expecting a tougher battle this season compared to 2023, when he won a record-breaking 19 of the 22 races.
He told media including PlanetF1.com: “I knew that it was never going to be like last year.
“To have a season like that is quite rare, so I always knew that of course this year was going to be a little bit different.
“But also I don’t really think about championship position or whatever. There are so many races left.
“Some races are a bit better for us, some are probably a bit worse for us and at the end of the day, it all works out.
“The cars are a lot closer. Some cars work better on street circuits, some work better in fast corners and low speed corners, so it will swing a bit.”
Verstappen takes a 31-point lead over Leclerc at the top of the Drivers’ Championship into the Canadian Grand Prix.
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