Max Verstappen said setup modifications between practice sessions in Saudi Arabia on Friday didn’t help him find the right balance.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull has stated that he is pursuing the setup of his RB16B after making alterations between the first and second practice sessions on Friday that put him in the wrong direction.
Verstappen finished second in the afternoon practice session, half a tenth behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, but slipped to fourth in the evening, two tenths behind.
Verstappen achieved the fastest time on the Soft tyre, albeit on his third flying lap, while Hamilton set the fastest time on the Medium tyre.
“Overall, it’s a really cool track, there are a lot of fast corners and it’s fun to drive,” Verstappen told media after Friday’s track action.
“We struggled to get heat into the tyres in FP2, which we will of course look into. Then we made a few changes from FP1 to FP2 which didn’t quite work but, hopefully, we can find the right balance come qualifying tomorrow.
“There are a lot of things to work on and improve so we’ll see what we can do to get more pace out of the car overnight.
“Looking ahead to qualifying, I think it might be quite difficult with the traffic but, in general, it’s hard to tell how Saturday is going to go, as anything can happen, but we’ll push hard and give it everything.”
Horner: This is Max’s type of circuit
Verstappen will not be holding anything back this weekend, according to Red Bull team manager Christian Horner, as the Dutchman has his first chance to wrap up the Drivers’ Championship.
Verstappen will win his first title this weekend if he outperforms Hamilton by 18 points or more.
“You’ve just got to go for it,” Horner said.
“He’s worked incredibly hard, as have the whole team, to get into this position to be here, two races from the end. You’ve just got to throw everything at it.
“And this is Max’s kind of circuit, high-speed, walls, kerbs. You can see he was down to a time quicker than anybody else. I spoke to him after the session – he’s certainly enjoying it!”
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