Max Verstappen was annoyed that he was unable to do clean fast laps on soft tires, but appreciated the pace Red Bull showed in free practice in Baku
Max Verstappen was third in both free practices on Friday (10) in Baku, but he didn't seem too worried. The Dutchman explained that he has been hindered by yellow flags every time he has put on soft tires, but he still sees Red Bull with good pace.
Max's optimism is justified by the performance of Sergio Perez, who was always near the front in the two free practices. Verstappen, however, does not rule Ferrari out of contention once again.
"I was a bit unlucky in my fast laps on soft tires in the two free practices, where I was stopped by yellow flags on the track. But overall we looked pretty decent. It seems like Ferrari is pretty fast on fast laps, but in the long stints it felt more equal," he said.
The 2021 champion also talked about the DRS problem that has been haunting him. According to Verstappen, at least in Baku, that doesn't look like it will be repeated.
"So far, it feels like that kind of track where you need to do everything on the first lap, because you already start to lose performance on the second lap. But overall, it was not a bad day. We just need to get a few details right. We took care of the rear wing in TL2 and I think everything went well, I didn't notice any problems," he added.
GRANDE PRÊMIO follows all the activities LIVE and IN REALTIME. On Saturday, TL3 is scheduled for 8am [GMT-3], while qualifying starts at 11am.