Red Bull and Verstappen facing 'stern conversations'

Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok believes there will be "stern conversations" going on inside Red Bull after the team was put in the shade by sister team Racing Bulls.

Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen endured a difficult day at the wheel of his RB21 in the two practice sessions at Melbourne's Albert Park, bemoaning a lack of grip in particular. With no balance issues with the car, the Dutch driver claims the problems will be "a bit harder to fix".

At the end of the day, Verstappen finished seventh on the timesheet, over six-tenths of a second adrift of pacesetter Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari. Red Bull team-mate Liam Lawson struggled even more, and was 1.2s down in 17th.

In contrast, Racing Bulls drivers Yuki Tsunoda and rookie team-mate Isack Hadjar were fourth and sixth respectively, with their car appearing to be more planted through the high-speed sections.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has claimed the power units were turned up slightly higher, affording Tsunoda and Hadjar additional speed and their places in the standings.

Chandhok, however, feels there will still be consternation inside Red Bull.

"Both [Racing Bulls] drivers did a great job, showing a lot of confidence," said Sky Sports F1 pundit Chandhok.

"Isack Hadjar, in particular, on his first day officially as a grand prix driver, to be ahead of Max Verstappen, I'd imagine some pretty stern conversations are going on back and forth.

"It is only Friday, we don't know the engine modes, etcetera, but they'll sleep well tonight, whereas, I'm not sure the Red Bull camp will, being six-tenths away from Charles Leclerc's time."

Red Bull will be 'head scratching'

Assessing the handling of the RB21, Chandhok added: "It didn't look hooked up. On the lap, he was sort of deep into Turn 1, into 3, struggling on the brakes, not able to get the car to stop. It looked edgy to drive."

Of greater concern for Chandhok was Lawson's performance. The New Zealander brushed a wall early in FP1, and later sustained floor damage to the car that confined him to the garage for a period.

Worse still is that Lawson's best time on the soft tyres was slower than Verstappen's best lap on the medium-compound Pirellis.

Chandhok said: "Lawson never really looked comfortable. At no point on any of the runs did he pop up on the timesheets. It looked like a challenge for him.

"Even when he went from the medium to the soft, he was still behind Max's medium time. It's been a tough day, six tenths away from Max.

"There'll be some head scratching, but tomorrow's a fresh day and we'll see if they can dig themselves out of it, but it's not been an easy start for Lawson at that team."