F1 | Verstappen impresses in long runs: “Promising step”

The news on Friday in Monza is the absence of Max Verstappen from the top of the times table. Both at the end of FP1 and FP2 the world champion was unable to sign the best performance, having to settle for the fifth time in Free Practice 1 – in 1’22 ” 840 – and the second in Free Practice 2 with just 143 thousandths of a second. delay from the performance obtained by Carlos Sainz.

The Dutchman, however, is aware that on Sunday he will be forced into yet another comeback race. Surprisingly this morning, Red Bull announced the replacement of the thermal unit on the RB18 number 1 and this will result in the retreat of five positions on the grid.

Despite this handicap, Verstappen did not seem disheartened. Max is aware that he has a car in his hands that fits perfectly with his driving style and a confirmation came during the simulation of the race pace when the world champion lapped on really interesting times.

“I think the car is pretty good. I tried a few different things from FP1 to FP2 to see if it could be done better. Some worked, some didn’t. Then, of course, I did general long-run tests given the small penalty that I will have to serve. Everything seemed to work quite well ”.

Will there be a spectacle similar to the one seen at Spa-Francorchamps in Monza too, when Verstappen was the absolute protagonist of the race? The Dutchman seemed very skeptical about it.

“There are still some things we can improve, but Monza is not a similar track to Spa. Of course, there is little downforce, but we don’t expect a situation like Spa to occur.”

In both free practice sessions it was the Ferraris that dictated the pace. Charles Leclerc signed the best performance at the end of FP1, while Carlos Sainz in FP2. Despite these results, Verstappen did not seem bothered by Rosse.

“The Ferraris look good, but I’m not worried. We still have a few things to fine-tune. If we consider the long runs I think our pace is quite good, and this is obviously the most important aspect for the race ”.

Sergio Perez seemed less enthusiastic at the end of this Friday. The Mexican is now constantly slower than his teammate and today he closed FP2 with a sixth time in 1’22 ” 386 and a gap of 7 tenths from Sainz.

Perez will also have to serve a penalty on the grid for having replaced the V6, but by 10 positions, and at the end of the day he admitted that he had used this Friday on the track to carry out comparative set-up tests.

“We played around with the set-up a bit and explored different directions, but all in all we gathered enough information also regarding the different levels of downforce. It is a rather promising picture because we have managed to complete a very solid program ”.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

The point on which the Mexican has focused is the tire degradation which appeared rather limited on Red Bull and this will also be a determining factor for his comeback.

“I think in the end it’s me and Max we used quite similar setups, but I think the main thing will be the race pace. The degradation will be fundamental for Sunday’s race ”.

“The car looks light, it slips a lot, but it depends on the nature of this circuit. I can’t wait for tomorrow, but especially Sunday. Overtaking will be difficult, but the deterioration looks promising ”.