Max Verstappen had a positive first impression of his new Red Bull after the first day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.
[smr2020test]”The car’s fast everywhere, which is a good thing, and the reliability seems even better,” he said. “So that’s all very positive.”
Verstappen logged 168 laps and set the fourth-fastest time, behind the two Mercedes drivers and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.
“It’s been a good day,” he said. “The car’s been working really well together with the engine. I think that’s what we want to see, that for us is the most important. So I’m very happy about that.
“We just want to learn to car, try things on the car and then look through the data and see what we can improve.”
Verstappen lost a little time with two spins at turn 13 approaching the final chicane during the course of the test.
“I touched once the gravel, that’s why I spun,” he explained. “And then once I just lost it in the same corner.
“Those things can happen, trying to see the limits of the car, what you can do. Those things a part of it. Luckily no damage which at the end of the day is the most important.”
Don't miss anything new from RaceFans
Follow RaceFans on social media:
[f1tv2020testc]
2020 F1 season
- Pictures: Wrecked chassis from Grosjean’s Bahrain fireball crash to go on display
- Bottas vs Rosberg: Hamilton’s Mercedes team mates compared after 78 races each
- F1 revenues fell by $877 million in Covid-struck 2020 season
- Hamilton and Mercedes finally announce new deal for 2021 season
- F1 audience figures “strong” in 2020 despite dip in television viewers
Robbie (@robbie)
19th February 2020, 18:39
As a Max fan, it’s nice to hear the positive things he has to say, while keeping in mind it is testing. But…hard to argue it’s been a good first day for RBR amongst others. And ya, lucky to have no damage, given that they have two fewer days to test this week and next, and, last year Gasly’s two day-ending crashes really set them back at the start of the year and it took them some time to get better and sort the car out.
Peter
19th February 2020, 20:39
Last year red bull had mostly same amount of test days because of the gasly crashes.
Robbie (@robbie)
19th February 2020, 21:47
Yeah for sure, and it set them back with parts and their planned schedule got all discombobulated. Hopefully they’ll get in a concise, and complete 6 (5 more) days this time.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
20th February 2020, 7:15
I’m looking forward to seeing how his teammate performs today – I don’t expect him to be matching Max’s times straight off but it would be great to see him being close and equally as happy with the car.
MacLeod (@macleod)
20th February 2020, 8:26
depends on the test program Alex is going to do: Testing different parts or just setup testing. That makes testing hard to understand.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
19th February 2020, 18:47
Mercedes should definitely stay alert after today. It was a solid long run by Verstappen and the car has been extremely consistent. Ferrari, moreover, might not show their true colours for some time also.
Samouri (@samouri)
19th February 2020, 21:04
Don’t worry the Merc’s will keep a very sharp eye, on both the Bulls and the Scuderia
James Neutron (@phillyspur)
19th February 2020, 23:06
I’m pretty sure Mercedes are convinced they’ve got both championships wrapped up after today. They may not even show up for the rest of testing at this point.
Charles
19th February 2020, 20:13
Let’s hope so! F1 desperately needs a genuine challenger to the Merc rocket ship! And if Ferrari can’t deliver then Red Bull it is.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
20th February 2020, 0:32
Interesting how all the loud voices that complained about RBR’s treatment of Renault was so bad have begun to quieten down since they made their move to Honda PU’s.
For mine its been nothing but a positive move and they had every right (now proved) to be very blunt about Renault’s poor delivery on the PU side.
Ross
20th February 2020, 2:30
RBR could quite possibly have challenged for the title with the Renault engine last year. It was a far improved unit over their previous units. McLaren showed the engine was no slouch, and Renault’s own results at Monza confirmed it. Given the sacrifices RBR made on their chassis for the Honda PU they may possibly have been able to challenge with a Renault PU from the start of the season… just sayin’. Plus, If the Honda had performed like it did in the back of the McLaren RBR would have lost Max last season.
Robbie (@robbie)
20th February 2020, 5:51
@dbradock Recall that there were some posters here claiming that it would only be a matter of races before Horner would be brow-beating Honda via the media ala Renault, lol.
Ross, not so sure about that. I don’t think the Renault Pu was that much improved over what RBR last had from them, and when you consider how the Mercedes came out so strongly, I doubt the Renault Pu would have helped that much. As well, RBR started out with issues moreso to do with aero or balance afaik, and they needed time to understand the car. Anyway, moot stuff, especially your pretend McHonda revival, and a Max exit from RBR.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
20th February 2020, 7:13
Yes @robbie – I had a bit of a laugh at those comments because Honda, even when working with Maclaren made it quite clear that they would work, and work hard with RBR to improve performance and reliability which was the issue that RBR had with their previous supplier. They really did not seem to put in any real effort. Remember the tokens in 2015 (RBR’s year of real angst) – how many did Renault actually use…. not to mention that their reliability was as bad as Honda’s and masked only by the publicity that Honda’s failures were getting.
Like you I doubt RBR would have gone anywhere near challenging for the title – as I recall there were quite a number of early failures with the PU for both McLaren and Renault and you’re correct in that it took a while for RBR to get on top of their aero.
Ross
20th February 2020, 8:01
Thanks for answering all my hypotheticals with more hypotheticals… I don’t understand the McHonda revival piece. I simply stated that had the Honda failed, or for that matter even had RBR faultered they would have lost Ves, given that he was so confident in the RBR Honda package that he had a mid season escape clause written into his contract.
Robbie (@robbie)
20th February 2020, 14:15
Ross I didn’t answer with hypotheticals, just realities. Not sure what ‘sacrifices’ you claim RBR made when switching to Honda. Other side of the coin is that it is more of a works relationship now with Honda than it was with Renault. And if the Honda was still as bad as when they were with Mac, RBR would not have considered them for the switch and would have stuck with Renault. That Max has an escape clause, the details of which we know little, and I’m not sure what ‘mid-season’ is supposed to mean, that is normal. From the one or two sentences I read about it I would think it means that Max can opt to leave the team ahead of his contract expiring if they are not at least third in the WCC. Mid-season? He’d have to have a place to go, no? Someone else to release a driver mid-season?
Anyway, that doesn’t have to represent doubt from Max in Honda’s abilities, nor the teams abilities, but is just a prudent thing to do when extending a contract and committing to a team long term.
Ajaxn
20th February 2020, 7:18
Its still early, but So this mean Max was ‘sand-bagging’ ,
or is the new Redbull still not as good as last year’s Mercedes [aka Racing Point] ;-)
Ajaxn
20th February 2020, 7:20
whoops
Its still early, but does this mean Max was ‘sand-bagging’ ,
or is the new Redbull still not as good as last year’s Mercedes [aka Racing Point] ;-)