Max Verstappen only participated in the second free practice of the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 GP this Friday, after Red Bull lined up with two rookies in the opening session. He was the third fastest of the day, despite being somewhat dissatisfied with the performance of his RB19.
The Dutchman told the official championship website that he was not particularly pleased with Friday: ‘Not very much. I think that from our side, the balance was very off. There was a lot of understeer, a lot of jumps, so there are definitely some things to understand for tomorrow’.
According to Verstappen, it was not expected to be so far away in terms of car setup, but he emphasized that in terms of results he was not displeased: ‘I didn’t expect to be so far away, so that’s also a mystery for us. We’re still in third place, which isn’t too bad, but in terms of balance, I think it can be much better. So we’ll try to see what happens there’.
During FP2, the three-time world champion was frustrated with the slow traffic at the exit of the pit lane, which he explained as follows: ‘They have to move! Everyone is driving slowly and I want to get out, because we are all limited in time and they drive in the middle, and then when I try to overtake them, they try to push me into the wall. So, it’s a bit silly’.
