German GP | Verstappen still searching for the perfect balance in Hockenheim
Red Bull Racing had a tough today with Pierre Gasly’s crash this afternoon, but Max Verstappen is still up to the front fighting Ferrari and Mercedes. It was not the best day for the Dutchman but he seems positive for the rest of the weekend.
Max Verstappen closed the day with fifth place in FP2, just behind Ferrari and Mercedes. After his first win with Honda in Austria and a strong performance in Silverstone, Verstappen is trying to keep this momentum by fighting back for the podium. The 21 years old driver spoke about his day and how he felt with the car: “We haven’t quite found the perfect balance yet but we are also not too far behind. In Free Practice 2 I didn’t have a clean lap on the softest compound as I had to abort and around here it is really a one lap tyre. I ended up doing extra laps on the tyre and the peak of the grip was gone.”
We are not too far off and still have room for improvement, so our Friday was pretty okay #KeepPushing #GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/0C53x2ciVv
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) July 26, 2019
So once again Red Bull seems to miss a few tenths to actually fight for the win on Sunday. Anyway, weather is expected to change for the rest of the weekend, and the Dutch could find himself in a better position than what he is now. “We are a little bit behind Mercedes and Ferrari but with some fine-tuning it will be ok and I think we are better than the times from FP2 show”, Verstappen said.
“It’s always good to get plenty of running on a Friday, even if the conditions are going to change, as you can still get an understanding and find the right direction for the rest of the weekend", he stated.
Max finishes #FP2 in P5 with a 1:14.133 while Pierre is P15 with a 1:15.089 🇩🇪 #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/LuVFA3RRRq
— Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 26, 2019
He also talked about his teammate crash in the final stages of the day: “Luckily [Gasly’s crash] was later onto the session, so I don’t think it’s really painful for the team.” Max then concluded on how it is to drive in those conditions: “Just when you stop and you sit in the car, everything it’s hot, but when you’re driving everything is fine. I don’t feel really hot in the car.”
https://www.motorlat.com/notas/f1/12194/german-gp-another-ferrari-one-two-in-fp2-gasly-hits-the-wall
