Dissatisfied Max Verstappen speaks of a ‘bad day’ and is disappointed with Lewis Hamilton
Max Verstappen did not get further than the seventh fastest time during the second training for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, after setting the fifth fastest time in the first session in Imola. Charles Leclerc was again the fastest.
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Verstappen stated at the start of the second, Friday session that his RB20 already felt a lot better than in the first training. Yet he rode ‘only’ the seventh fastest time.
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Two last attempts to set a fast time on the soft tire came to nothing. After Verstappen had already been affected by traffic during attempt one, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton then got in his way. Verstappen was clearly not happy with that and made this known in words and gestures. Hamilton immediately apologized and said to his engineer over the on-board radio that he would have liked to have received a warning that Verstappen was approaching him. Leclerc and Verstappen’s teammate Pérez also had a fight later in the session following a similar incident.
Verstappen: ‘So it happened again’
“That is not the first time that this has happened,” Verstappen said at the time with Hamilton. “You always try to remain calm, but it happened again. At the same time, I don’t want to talk about it too much because that wasn’t our problem today. We didn’t have the speed and we have to solve that. It was difficult to find the right balance, I didn’t feel comfortable in the car and it was very easy to ‘lose’ the car. Today was just bad. There are really things we need to improve to be competitive tomorrow.”
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Ferrari driver Leclerc lapped in 1.15.906, making him just under two-tenths of a second faster than Oscar Piastri (McLaren). Behind this followed the surprising Yuki Tsunoda, Hamilton, George Russell, Carlos Sainz and only then Pérez. Verstappen was half a second slower than Leclerc in that fastest lap, Pérez added an extra tenth.
Racing simulation also did not go entirely according to Max Verstappen’s plan
In the final phase, the drivers all focused on the long run with a view to Sunday’s race. That race simulation also did not go entirely according to plan for Verstappen, who shot straight again. Although the lap times of almost all drivers fluctuated back and forth during those long runs.
“The long run was also very bad,” Verstappen was clear. “Do I have confidence that things will get better tomorrow? It can hardly be worse than today. It seems that others have taken a step forward and for us it was not a good day.”
Verstappen also searching during the opening session in Imola
Verstappen was also dissatisfied during the first free practice, earlier in the day. He expressed his dissatisfaction over the on-board radio. The three-time world champion did not get further than fifth place in the opening session.
Apart from the Racing Bulls, all teams brought quite a few updates to Imola, which were extensively tested during the first session of the weekend.
Although Verstappen drove the fastest times in the first and third sectors, he lost a lot of time in the middle part. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was ultimately fastest for the Italian public: 1.16.990.
Sergio Perez and Verstappen more than two tenths slower than Leclerc
Mercedes driver George Russell conceded a tenth to Leclerc’s time at the beginning of the afternoon, followed shortly afterwards by his teammate Carlos Sainz. Red Bull drivers Sergio Pérez and Verstappen were more than two-tenths slower than Leclerc.
With about six minutes left on the clock, Verstappen was making an improvement, but he shot straight ahead. That happened again in the final minute, without serious consequences. He was therefore unable to complete an ideal lap at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. Red Bull has also introduced a major update in Imola, just like Ferrari and Mercedes. McLaren already did that two weeks ago in Miami. The winner there, Lando Norris, rode the eighth fastest time during the first training.
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