Verstappen explains lack of pace after going slower than Renault

Max Verstappen has explained that power outages were to blame for his inability to get closer to Ferrari and Mercedes in Friday practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Verstappen was sixth-fastest in the representative FP2 session, behind the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg.

Renault-powered cars looked rapid through the speed trap, with McLaren also clocking leading speeds.

Comparisons between Renault and Red Bull carry more significance in 2019 after their split at the end of last year.

However, Verstappen played down the notion of the French marque having closed the gap, explaining that he was not at his best in practice.

"We still didn't find the right set-up," he said.

"We knew that Ferrari was going to be quick and they are. We still have some work to do, especially on the softest tyres.

"I had some issues in general in the fastest lap with the power, not having full power.

"I think on the medium tyre we actually look quite competitive. I should have been first on that tyre. Again I had a power release out of the last corner, I lost three-tenths with that.

"In one way we look competitive but then for qualifying we still don't look that competitive so we have some work to do."

Pierre Gasly languished in P12 on the timesheets, having failed to score a point on his Red Bull debut in Australia, however the Frenchman is certain that better is to come.

"In FP2 we were fast with the medium tyres but then with the softs we were lacking some pace," he said.

"I couldn't really push on the first laps, so I had to do it on the third, which is not ideal. I think overall the car is good, we're just missing a bit of pace with this set-up and need to improve our understanding of the soft tyres.

"I feel confident with the car, for sure it's a different track than Melbourne so we need to optimise everything but I'm confident we can get it right tomorrow."