Max Verstappen was only sixth in both free practice sessions on Thursday at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Formula 1. Despite being almost half a second behind the fastest of the day, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), and complaining about some difficulties with the car via team radio, the three-time world champion is not worried.
Quoted by the official championship website, the Dutchman said: ‘I don’t think it was too bad, it’s just that I think it’s very tight. Maybe some people around us have already increased the performance of the engine a bit in terms of top speed, but we only focus on ourselves, and I think today there were some small front-to-rear balance issues, but nothing major. It’s just about trying to find that sweet spot, and especially here with the rough asphalt, when you hit that sweet spot you only gain time and that’s what we’ll try to focus on a bit more tomorrow’.
The gap that separates him from the lead is not a cause for concern, Verstappen assured: ‘I’m not saying that everyone around us has done it [increased engine performance], but some have, so I’m not too worried about the distance to first place. But it’s going to be very tight in qualifying, I think, so I think it’s going to be very good. In long runs, I was a bit happier, but there are some things we can do better’.
