As the checkered flag fell on Free Practice 2 for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, something looked amiss: Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen trailed both of the Racing Bulls on the timing sheets.

While FP2 is by no means representative of how the whole season, or even this weekend, will progress, some pundits still believe there are about to be some “stern conversations” in the Red Bull camp tonight as it pertains to performance.

‘Stern conversations’ sure to follow Red Bull’s challenging FP2

It wasn’t long ago that you could look at a timing sheet from any Formula 1 Free Practice session and predict Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing to be leading the field — no matter the weather conditions or venue.

Those days are behind us now as the 2025 season kicks off in Australia. FP1 saw Lando Norris of McLaren lock down the leaderboard, followed by Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

In that session, Verstappen led the Red Bull camp, but only in fifth place.

Things were even more grim in FP2, as Leclerc topped the charts over McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Verstappen’s quickest lap was only good enough for seventh on the charts — behind Yuki Tsunoda in fourth place and Isack Hadjar in sixth.

Yes, it’s still just practice, but it’s safe to say no one expected the Racing Bulls to usurp their sister team.

Throughout both sessions, Verstappen noted that he was struggling with a lack of grip; the car was otherwise well balanced but he simply couldn’t convert power to the pavement with control.

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Former F1 driver turned pundit Karun Chandhok was quick to point out the Red Bull issue, noting that there’s sure to be some “stern conversations” in the Milton Keynes camp.

“Both [Racing Bulls] drivers did a great job, showing a lot of confidence,” Chandhok said to Sky Sports.

“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.”

Chandhok is correct that there’s still plenty of time for the running order to shake out before race day, but it wasn’t long ago that Red Bull’s place at the top of the timing sheets was almost entirely guaranteed.

Red Bull’s new challenger, the RB21, “didn’t look hooked up,” according to Chandhok.

“On the lap, [Verstappen] was sort of deep into Turn 1, into 3, struggling for the brakes, not able to g et the car to stop.

“It looked edgy to drive.”

And if Verstappen was struggling to reign in the difficult car, then new teammate Liam Lawson certainly couldn’t be expected to fare much better.

Chandhok added, “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.”

The whole Red Bull operation will have some “head scratching” to do, Chandhok asserts, “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.”

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