Max Verstappen has outlined that it is “quite obvious” Red Bull Racing needs to find more performance following the conclusion of pre-season testing.

The Dutchman was in the RB22 for his final running on Friday afternoon, completing 65 laps, the best of which was a 1m 33.109.

It means that the four-time world champion was unable to join Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in posting a 1m 32 this week, while Charles Leclerc was alone in the 1m 31s.

Just how much Verstappen was pushing and how turned up Red Bull’s engine was remain unknown, but it would appear the Austrian outfit is perhaps behind Mercedes and Ferrari.

Crucially, significant mileage has been completed by Red Bull and sister squad Racing Bulls, representing valuable data for Red Bull Powertrains.

All in all, there are many positives for Verstappen to take from pre-season, but the 28-year-old is aware the RB22 needs to be faster.

“This week has been a good start,” said Verstappen. “For my runs in the car, we’ve basically completed the full programme, so that was good as we have plenty of data to go over and analyse. 

“Going into Bahrain testing, I think we prepared as well as we could and the team have done a great job to get to where we are. 

“I think it is quite obvious, of course, that there is still quite a bit of work to do for us to be faster so this is something we will be working on. 

“Let’s see what we get in Melbourne: it will be great to be back racing but we still have to work hard.”