Max Verstappen has raised serious concerns about Red Bull's performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix, stating the team is "just too slow" as they gear up to face tough competition from McLaren.

During second practice, Verstappen's performance saw him languishing in eighth place, trailing over eight tenths behind McLaren's leading driver, Oscar Piastri, solidifying a pattern where Red Bull hasn't broken into the top six this season.

Reflecting on last week’s race at Suzuka, Verstappen noted that the team had to "turn the car upside down" to secure pole and victory, yet he fears that achieving a similar feat will be significantly more challenging in Bahrain due to pronounced tire degradation—a core strength of McLaren this season.

Verstappen stated, "Yeah, just difficult. It took one or two laps to get into it, but the gap was quite massive. Not entirely happy, just struggling a lot with grip and feeling in general. Every lap feels like we’re just too slow."

Despite focusing more on soft-tire runs during Friday’s practice, the data revealed a concerning lack of pace relative to McLaren, with Verstappen acknowledging the gap as "big." He added, "We did a bit of a different approach to our Friday, so I think this gap is very significant."

Identifying Red Bull's Weaknesses

Analyzing the GPS data from practice, it became clear that Red Bull’s RB21 shows weaknesses compared to the McLaren. While Verstappen initially kept pace with Piastri, the Red Bull's tires began to overheat, allowing McLaren to surge ahead in the final sector.

This tire management issue is expected to have important implications over the race distance, reminiscent of McLaren’s impressive performance in pre-season testing.

McLaren's Confident Performance

Despite cautious optimism, McLaren looked strong on Friday, with Piastri feeling "pretty happy" about the car's setup. Teammate Lando Norris, however, described the day as "weird" due to unusually challenging conditions but acknowledged their pace remained solid.

Norris emphasized the drastic change in conditions compared to pre-season testing, saying, "All the information from the pre-season test has basically gone out the window. It’s difficult but a good starting point for the weekend."

When questioned about their remarkable performance, Norris suggested that McLaren may not have unleashed their full potential, saying, "I just don't think they turned up [their engine modes]. Everyone looks at the timesheet without knowing the behind-the-scenes strategies, which can be worth three or four tenths here."

With this statement, he hinted that rather than being far ahead, McLaren's advantage wasn’t as vast as it appeared.