Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsToro Rosso

Verstappen admits surprise at P2 result in FP1

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Max Verstappen admits he surprised even himself to finish second in the opening practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix.

With Lewis Hamilton topping the times, Verstappen's final lap in FP1 moved him up to second place, just 0.15s slower than the defending world champion. With the first session also marking the first laps Verstappen has ever driven around Monaco, he admits he didn't expect to be so far up in the standings.

"I was surprised," Verstappen said. "I was looking after the flag, I was looking up to the screen and I couldn’t find myself, the I looked a bit further up and I went ‘Oh… alright, that was a good lap then!’

"The whole session I was building up slowly, but already from the simulator to here was very helpful, so I felt straight away very good on the track and I could get a lot of confidence from myself."

Finishing FP2 in seventh place, Verstappen says Toro Rosso can aim for a slot on the front three rows again in qualifying on Saturday.

"Even in the last practice, I should have been closer to third. I got held up in the last sector quite aggressively, but I think it is possible. If we can get the right lap in qualifying then anything is possible.

"It is really predictable out here. It is very important to know what the car is doing and you get a lot of confidence because a street circuit is about confidence and feeling with the car."

And Verstappen even believes a podium could be a possibility if he can capitalise on his qualifying pace.

"Maybe on this track if we have a lot of luck and people have problems or crash out and we stay out on track! We need a lot of luck for that. Normally Mercedes, Ferrari they should be ahead, but if we have a lot of luck, maybe."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.