F1 | Verstappen: “Rivals with more push PU, but we're on pace”

Third time on the scoresheet, but a benchmark pace. Even in Bahrain there seems to be a bit of a contrast between the single lap performance and the long distance performance at Red Bull, with an RB20 more at ease in terms of race pace than in the search for a lap time.

This was confirmed by Max Verstappen himself at the end of the second free practice session on the Jeddah track in Saudi Arabia, one of the fastest in the world championship where it is essential to be able to find the right balance between having a good load for the fast corners of the first sector and a lighter base to tackle the long straights that characterize the final half time.

The Dutchman said he was overall satisfied with the balance found, even if, in reality, for part of the session he had to fight against excessive bottoming in the fast corners, with the team searching for the ideal setup and height. A problem then partially resolved in the second session thanks to targeted interventions. Perhaps the section where he suffered the most, however, was the last corner, where he struggled for a long time to bring speed to the top, so much so that the team then made some changes to try to guarantee better rotation in the slow corners.

“I think it was a good day. Obviously in FP1 the track is always a bit slippery, although in reality I have to say that they prepared the track quite well for a city track, it wasn't too dirty. In FP2 the pace was good, long runs, dry laps, overall we learned a lot,” said Verstappen, underlining how the long-distance pace was quite positive, with several high 33s. Unlike the Ferraris, the Dutchman opted for the average in his long run at the end of FP2, recording extremely competitive times, undoubtedly the best on an equal mix with other rivals.

Some more concern, however, is reserved for the pace on the flying lap, where he believes that, once again, the teams will be very close. However, Verstappen underlined how, exactly as had already been seen in Bahrain, realistically other teams have used more aggressive mappings already in free practice: although he didn't name names, it is clear that the reference is to the Mercedes-powered ones, which actually record maximums at the bottom rather high on the straights. Clearly, the rear wings have also changed compared to Bahrain, with several teams opting for solutions that guarantee less drag.

“Obviously there are some things you want to improve on the flying lap, but I think others used more power, like they did in Bahrain, so that's something to take into account. When we tried the long runs the feeling was very good, I'm happy about it,” added the three-time world champion.

“[Sul giro secco] I'm pretty confident, but I think we'll all be very close again. I think there were probably some rivals who were a little stronger than us on the flying lap, while our car expresses itself better over the long distance.”