Max Verstappen has already clinched his fourth consecutive world championship so there is slightly less pressure on him ahead of the final two rounds.
The Dutchman had a difficult run to the title as he had to minimise the damage over the summer as Lando Norris was significantly quicker at times.
Verstappen is chasing a second consecutive victory at the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend but only finished in eighth place in the Sprint.
He picked up a single point for his effort, and Red Bull are lagging behind McLaren, who took a one-two finish.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner explained in an interview with Sky Sports F1 after the Sprint that Verstappen made one unusual error that cost him time.
Christian Horner explained Max Verstappen unusually lost positions at the start of the Sprint
Verstappen started in sixth place for the 19-lap Sprint as he lacked the speed to challenge for pole position in qualifying.
The Dutchman had a bad start and lost three places as he dropped to ninth on the opening lap of the race.
He moved behind Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg and couldn’t find a way past the German in a frustrating start to the race weekend.
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Horner explained the start was a rare error from Verstappen as he failed to move forward and gain places at the Lusail International Circuit.
He said: “Hugely unusual for him. You can see we just couldn’t fire up the tyres. By the time the tyres did get going, the front pack had gone. We’ve got some work to do.
“We managed to get a bit of data off Checo’s car with the changes we made, taking that out of parc ferme so hopefully that will help this afternoon. But we’ve got a bit of a mountain to climb.”
The interviewer Ted Kravitz was surprised Horner admitted the Red Bull team have a lot of work to do to be competitive in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
He added: “Okay. A mountain to climb, really?” before Horner responded with: “You can turn things around. I mean, that’s the joy now that we can change the car.”
Max Verstappen may struggle to score a podium in the Qatar Grand Prix
Verstappen and Red Bull lacked raw speed to challenge at the very sharp end of the field as he was stuck behind Hulkenberg.
He also couldn’t get onto the front two rows of the grid in qualifying on Friday as McLaren in particular are quick in the very high speed turns.
Verstappen hasn’t had the quickest car for much of this season but managed to limit the damage at most races.
It also looked difficult to overtake in the Sprint as George Russell struggled to pass Oscar Piastri in the battle for second place.
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