Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has revealed that the team made "gigantic changes" to the RB21 on the opening day of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Milton Keynes-based outfit has a strong record at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, with Max Verstappen having won two of the last three races at the venue. Despite this, it was a mixed opening day for the Austrian team. Verstappen ended second practice in third and just three-tenths adrift of Lando Norris, whilst Yuki Tsunoda was further behind. Tsunoda was sixth at the end of Friday's running but seven-tenths behind Norris, whilst he also triggered a red flag after crashing with eight minutes of FP2 remaining. He clipped the inside of the final corner which broke his steering, sending him helplessly into the barrier on the outside of the turn. It marked his first crash since replacing Liam Lawson, and has left Red Bull with a repair job on one side of the garage. Overall, Marko was pleased with Red Bull's one lap pace but recognised that it cannot compete with McLaren over a race distance. "We made gigantic changes," Marko told Sky DE . "We tried new variations of the setup. We look good over one lap, but are two to three tenths short of McLaren. "But unfortunately we were much too slow in the long runs. The tyres got way too hot. Now we have to make sure that we maintain our qualifying speed tomorrow, but limit the tyre wear during the race."
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