F1 - Noticias

F1 | Emilia Romagna GP | Verstappen Reveals Cause Of FP2 Failure And Calls 'Mercedes' Imola Pace "No Surprise"

Max Verstappen's favorite status for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix didn't support him on Friday, as he was pipped in the first practice session by both Mercedes – while a problem with his RB16B prevented him from completing a representative qualifying simulation lap in Free Practice 2.

( palabras)
F1 | Emilia Romagna GP | Verstappen Reveals Cause Of FP2 Failure And Calls 'Mercedes' Imola Pace "No Surprise"
Fuente imagen: Hasan Bratic - MotorLat

Verstappen finished third in FP1 and was right in the mix with Mercedes, just 0.058s behind session leader Valtteri Bottas and 0.017s behind Lewis Hamilton's sister Mercedes – despite a fast final lap being ruined by a late red flag for Nikita Mazepin's spin.

However, the battle between the two teams in FP2 was thwarted when Verstappen's Red Bull suffered a problem, forcing him to pull up just 11 minutes into the session before struggling to get back on track.

According to the Red Bull driver, “I had a driveshaft issue so I had to stop the car,”

He continues, “I like Italy, the food is good, I enjoy being here, but just the driving part so far hasn’t been the luckiest… but you know what you have to do anyway so it should be alright.”

In FP2, Verstappen was asked if the Mercedes' speed had inspired him, despite Bottas leading a second Mercedes one-two of the day despite setting his fastest time on medium tyres.
 
His reply, “Yeah – but it’s no surprise to be honest, so we just have to focus on ourselves to do a better job and then we’ll see where we will end up compared to them.
 
To add, “Of course it’s a bit difficult to say now for the second session how we would have been. But nothing shocking, so we just need to see what we can do better tomorrow in terms of balance. But of course first we have to make sure that nothing breaks!”
 
Verstappen will now attempt to win his third consecutive pole position on Saturday, extending his current streak to the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Artículos relacionados

Suscribirse

Subscribite ahora a nuestra lista de noticias diarias y te avisemos cada vez que una nota nueva salga.