Max Verstappen declared Red Bull’s long-run pace in Mexico City a serious concern after he headed the times in practice on Friday.

The Red Bull driver was quickest in a second practice session on Friday for the first time this year. However he said he is not confident in the RB21’s race pace.

“With the short run, I think on the soft [tyre compound] we managed to do a good lap,” he told the official Formula 1 channel. “The rest, everything else was pretty bad.

“On the medium, the short run was not great. And the big problem is the long runs where we seem to struggle a lot. So that is of course the big concern for the race.”

The low-grip conditions at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez are often a problem for drivers and Verstappen was one of several who complained about a lack of grip during his race simulation run in the second half of the session.

“The balance wasn’t even off, there was just no grip, which is the bigger concern,” he said. “As soon as you go on a sustained run, the tyres are going hot and we were nowhere. So that’s a tough one, I think, to sort out as well. But, we’ll see.”

Verstappen has won three of the last four grands prix but says Red Bull need to improve their long-run pace to have a chance this weekend. “You’re not going to win the race like that,” he said.

“You can be fast over one lap, but if you have absolutely zero pace in the race, then it’s going to be very tough. So I’d prefer to be fast in the races and not so fast over a one lap.”

Verstappen only took part in the second of the day’s two sessions. Junior driver Arvid Lindblad drove his car during the first hour of practice.

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