It was a two-faced Friday that Red Bull faced on the Austin track. The Milton Keynes team, which presented itself in America with Verstappen again at the top of the drivers’ standings, struggled a lot in the morning, getting the third fastest time with the Dutchman behind the Mercedes but with a gap of 9 tenths from Bottas.
The situation improved in the afternoon when Sergio Perez climbed to the top of the time table. The Mexican closed the session with a time of 1’34 ” 946, while Max Verstappen, also thanks to the traffic on the track, was unable to do better than the eighth time, almost 9 tenths behind his teammate.
Verstappen himself was the protagonist of a controversial episode in the middle of the second round. The Dutch driver, after passing Lewis Hamilton waiting to launch for a fast lap, was again overtaken by the Englishman in the final part of the track.
Max did not give up and immediately joined Hamilton at the entrance of the last corner, and then dueled for position with Lewis until the braking point of turn 1. Once the seven world champion took advantage of the trajectory to get ahead , Verstappen greeted Hamilton by showing him the middle finger.
“I didn’t quite understand what happened with Lewis” were Verstappen’s first words. “He joined me and pushed me out onto the main straight.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
The current championship leader then explained what went wrong today by pointing his index finger towards a set-up not yet adequate to adapt the Red Bull RB16B to the bumps in the Texas asphalt.
“Only in the second free practice session was I able to put together a lap, but overall the situation on the track is not easy due to the numerous bumps. We need to find the right compromise to define a correct set-up “.
“There are also many positives to consider, but we will have to work overnight.”
Sergio Perez took the headlines thanks to the fastest time obtained in the afternoon, but the Mexican also pointed out, as did Verstappen, how the team must work hard during the day today to make progress.
“It was a promising second free practice session, but there is still a lot of work to be done to improve the car. Similarly we can also improve in the long run ”.
The winner of the Baku GP then underlined how one aspect to be kept extremely under control is tire degradation. Perez, however, said he was certain that by solving this problem, better time consistency in the race simulation could be achieved.
“In the race simulation I was not very happy with the tire degradation, I think there is room for improvement in this respect and consequently also increase the long run”.
#Verstappen #fight #Lewis #dont #happened