Max Verstappen explains Red Bull 'experiments' in McLaren pursuit

Max Verstappen has explained the experiments Red Bull carried out in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix practice to reel in McLaren. 

The world champion bounced back from a difficult Bahrain to take third in the charts on Friday in Jeddah, two-tenths behind pace-setter Lando Norris with Oscar Piastri second. 

The Red Bull driver could only manage sixth last time out in Bahrain as Red Bull struggled for pace, but felt the team had "learned a lot" from its experiments throughout practice with the RB21.

"We tried some different things with the car, and maybe trying to find a direction with it," Verstappen explained.

"We learned a lot from it, but I'm still not where I want to be, I don't look at the gaps, and at the end of the day, you just have to go with your own feeling.

"What I'm feeling in the car over one lap, it is a bit better, but in the long runs, they were still very tough for us. 

"McLaren will be very competitive, and from our side, there is still quite a bit of work to do and things to understand."