Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

Red Bull to split test days between drivers after ‘nearly wearing out’ Verstappen

2020 F1 season

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Red Bull will follow the trend for splitting test days between its drivers after Max Verstappen was ‘nearly worn out’ on the first day of last week’s test.

[f1tv2020testa]Verstappen single-handedly covered 168 laps – the equivalent of more than two-and-a-half 66-lap race distances – on Wednesday at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Horner said first day of testing had been “really strong” for the team: “170 laps I think is the most we’ve ever done on day one in Barcelona.

“We nearly wore the driver out. It’s almost three times a grand prix distance. But it was a very, very positive day.”

Last year the team allocated each driver a full day in the car throughout testing, and did so for the first two days of testing last week. However it has confirmed Verstappen and Alexander Albon will share the car on each of the final three days of testing, which begins tomorrow.

Speaking to F1 TV during last week’s test, Horner admitted the team’s engineers “prefer having continuity over a whole day with just one driver in the car.”

“Sometimes it can break the rhythm by by switching drivers halfway through,” he explained. “But the kind of mileages these cars are doing now, you cram as much as you can into into the two half-days. And therefore, having that flexibility and the ability to change your drive is at lunchtime is is a positive thing.”

Verstappen’s 168-lap day was the busiest for any individual driver during last week’s test, and one less than the highest single-day lap count last year, set by Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari.

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2020 F1 season

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15 comments on “Red Bull to split test days between drivers after ‘nearly wearing out’ Verstappen”

  1. It does seem a bit ridiculous to have someone go from not being in the car for 3 months to having them do 3 race distances in a single day.

    But not just that, I’d imagine keeping your concentration up for that long must be emotionally draining as much as the psychical drain.

    1. Not only that. But after those 3 days a driver can do in Februari, he can never test the car again for a full year (the other tests are for tires and have no car development).

  2. Should have used a harder compound Verstappen.

    1. Where’s my “Like” button?

  3. ;)))))))))
    Max needs better training!

  4. Poor dote. Imagine if he had to work for a living. 🤪

    1. 168 laps in a Formula 1 car, puling high G in at least 10 corners each lap.
      There may .not exist any other line of work where anyone gets to endure that many Gs that often.
      If this wasn’t the hardest test session ever it must be pretty close.

      1. Plus the massive cramps in his arms and legs afterwards.

    2. @skylab yeah it seems he has started his habitual complaining early this year…. pffff

      1. What habitual complaining?

  5. awesome!

    i really hope max gets to fight for the WDC this season , and may be even win! (im a big LH fan), but i like to see LH getting beaten once in a while.. winning all the time, even if one is your favorite is a bit boring!

    becoming his fan now!!

  6. waking up the next day, then a day later repeat. I suspected Max was aching.

  7. Poor baby. They still have an opening for a seat in F2!

    Really, don’t these F1 folks have any awareness of how statements like these sound?

    1. Tell me about all your experience driving multiple race distances in a day in an F1 car.

    2. @partofthepuzzle Even a full day in a go-kart is tiring.

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