Max Verstappen says there is more to come from his Red Bull over a single flying lap after the first day of practice for the Dutch Grand Prix.
However he said his lap time was unrepresentative after being forced to abort his quickest run on new tyres when Nikita Mazepin spun ahead of him, causing the session to be red-flagged.“I don’t think it looks very representative from our side on the short run because already after one lap the tyres do drop off a bit,” he said. “Nevertheless we will work on a few things where we’re not entirely happy in the short run. But the long run looks competitive so of course that is always very important.”
Several drivers have indicated overtaking will be very difficult around the narrow and fast Zandvoort track. “We also know that the starting position around here is very important,” Verstappen acknowledged. “So we’ll have a look what we can do for the short run to make it a bit better.”
Verstappen believes there are “just a few things we need to understand a bit better to get a bit more pace out of it” tomorrow.
“But like I said it’s also not very representative because my lap was on a used set and the lap I had to abort I think would have been good enough for first. So then of course you talk already a bit differently, but it’s never perfect. We’ll always try to look into details what we can do better.”
Although Zandvoort is limited to just two-thirds of spectator capacity this weekend, a large number of fans have turned up for the race, most of whom are supporting Vertappen.
“I was really enjoyable to see all of them in orange and having fun in the grandstands,” he said. “And of course the track as well, it’s quite a short lap, a lot of fast corners, it was a fun day.”
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Andy (@andyfromsandy)
3rd September 2021, 16:43
Max believes he should of been in first place of FP2. But until you set the time you cannot know and as you didn’t you are fifth. He might of spun just like Nikita did.
If…
petebaldwin (@)
3rd September 2021, 16:59
He’s not saying he should have been in first place…. He’s saying that being in 5th isn’t representative of his pace so it doesn’t point towards any issues. If he’d got his lap in and was 5th anyway, it would suggest they were off the pace but they aren’t.
Obviously in qualifying, they need to get out early and put a decent lap in as we will almost certainly see some red flags. Of course, if you abort a lap in quali, you don’t then go out on used tyres to do setup work for your next run. You bolt some fresh tyres on and do another flying lap which would have been pointless in FP2.
Andy (@andyfromsandy)
3rd September 2021, 17:11
And I quote, “But according to the Red Bull driver, a lap he was forced to abort midway through the session would have been good enough to put him top of the timesheets.”
Swifty (@theswift)
3rd September 2021, 17:35
“I don’t think it looks very representative from our side in the short run,” said Verstappen. “My lap was on a used set, and the lap I had to abort I think would have been good enough for first. From F1.com
Someone’s ego is bruised :-D
Steve
3rd September 2021, 17:35
So Verstappen thinks he was on a good enough run to get the top position. They can know this because they know the sector times. Al he is saying is that there is no car issue or that the car doesn’t perform on this track.
Swifty (@theswift)
3rd September 2021, 17:57
Not here, please.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd September 2021, 18:03
It’s a common error, yes, but I think not picking up the point of verstappen’s comment is a more serious problem.
mystic one (@mysticus)
3rd September 2021, 22:36
I think he may get a penalty for his fp2 incident where he went through red flag… His engineer heard saying hope stewards let that happen – speeding to be allowed maybe hinting he was not aware… Considering they burned all midnight oil and some to cause/get ham penalised, I hope Mercedes is all over it this time and present it to stewards!!! Hope he gets a few drops in the grid… And hope stewards doesn’t let that slip like they do when it comes to rb business…
baasbas
3rd September 2021, 16:55
I suspect a lot of moaning after Q. Blocking, penalties but mostly red flag anti climaxes seeing some surprise eliminations or deciding Q3 before a second run
jff
3rd September 2021, 17:21
I trust he can go faster, but quite worried (if not disappointed) about Perez’ pace.
trib4udi (@trib4udi)
3rd September 2021, 17:32
Perez’ pace is worrying.
The hypothesis that RB is the quickest car this season has been long rejected. A seasoned driver like Perez would qualify higher than his average position of 6th on the grid in the quickest car.
Swifty (@theswift)
3rd September 2021, 17:39
Keep telling yourself that, Perez is a decent 2nd rate driver, no better.
There’s a knife edge between the RB and the Merc.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd September 2021, 18:02
See the difference between verstappen and mercedes? Verstappen gets 5th and is realistic that he could’ve been 1st, mercedes always talk down their pace.
Kribana (@krichelle)
3rd September 2021, 18:25
@esploratore1
So we are expecting Verstappen to be on pole easily tomorrow by 3 seconds? Look, play down your expectations, because when you fail, you will look stupid.
Swifty (@theswift)
3rd September 2021, 18:40
Are we voting on ego now? YES, VER and CH win that one.
Andrie
4th September 2021, 0:07
Confidence and ego is a fine line. I’m a fan of both Hamilton and Verstappen. I’m more of a fan of Toto management style but also do not hate Horner.
I read it as Verstappen have confident he would have been fastest if not capable to be fastest. I watched both practice session and I think it would been nip and tuck for Verstappen to be on top. 5th is definitely not representative as he was forced to abort both his fastest lap.
As far as Toto Wolf management style, while I’m in favor most of the time, I don’t like his tendency to downplay his team. I understand it is probably strategy but it felt as fake humble.