"The Mercedes, and especially Kimi are going to be very difficult to beat," said Neil Houldey.
Ferrari brought an engine upgrade to the event.
Team Principal Frederic Vasseur downplayed expectations after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished fifth and eighth on Friday.
>>> Kaan Ofli vs Javier Reyes Set for UFC Baku Featherweight Clash
"It was a tough Friday that we struggled a little but with the conditions, a bit extreme, the altitude, the temperature," said Frederic Vasseur.
Vasseur highlighted the short development window available since the governing body authorized the power unit updates.
"It is the same for everyone but it is not suiting very well to us.
We have the night to correct to put everything together and let's try to do a better job on Saturday.
So far we are far away from our potential."
"We knew about Aduo two weeks ago, you cannot expect to have a huge step forward.
It is a new engine for sure but it is not a decent step," said Vasseur.
Red Bull also introduced technical updates.
Isack Hadjar, who finished seventh in Q2, reported that both he and Verstappen encountered persistent balance issues throughout the early sessions.
"It's not a completely different car. It feels like the usual.
We still have work to do to catch up. For some reason we were quite slow to get started, the car comes alive sometimes in qualifying.
We need to get it sorted because it's quite tough. We are struggling with grip.
>>> Alejandro Davidovich Reaches ATP Mallorca 2026 Final After Comeback Win
It's a speed range we've been good at so to have this behaviour from the car, I don't understand," said Isack Hadjar.
