F1 News, Reports and Race Results

"Lewis faster" warns Verstappen, despite topping Friday

Max Verstappen has warned that the timesheets at the end of Friday's two hour-long practice sessions may not be an accurate representation as to how Red Bull and Mercedes stand heading into the Styrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen topped both sessions, with his fastest time of 1:05.412s set after lunch while chief rival Lewis Hamilton was only fourth fastest, almost four tenths off the Dutch driver's pace.

But Verstappen pointed out that Hamilton had set a faster lap than that, only to have it deleted for exceeding track limits in the process.

“In the second practice Lewis was faster but his lap time got deleted, so it looks a bit different, I think, than what's shown at the moment,” he told the media afterwards.

“Overall it’s been quite a good day for us and although there are a few things to look into, which is very normal for a Friday. I am quite happy with where the car is at the moment."

Verstappen acknowledged that Hamilton's deleted time showed what was possible in tomorrow's Saturday qualifying session.

"We expect to see both teams at the top," he confirmed. "The weather forecast looks like it is changing all the time, so let’s see what it is actually like tomorrow. But I think it will be a very tight battle again.”

His team mate Sergio Perez wasn't as happy with the way things had gone on Friday, admitting that he'd gone the wrong way with the set-up of the RB16B.

“From our side, we just have to find a bit of fine-tuning,” he said. “I seem to have these issues in practice.

"I'm not so comfortable in the car," he admitted. "I’m still learning the best set-up adjustments for the car and as usual, taking my time with the engineers to get that right.

“[But] I'm not concerned at all,” he insisted. "There’s definitely some more potential in the car and finding a few tenths here makes a huge difference.

“I think we do have good pace. The long-run pace seemed to be promising so if we're able to find a couple of tenths overnight, we're in the fight for tomorrow, which is important.

"Hopefully we are in the mix tomorrow come qualifying and we're able to put a great lap together in Q3.”

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.

Recent Posts

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

27 mins ago

Hamilton delighted with ‘consistently strong day’ in Vegas

Lewis Hamilton was particularly happy with his opening day of running at the Las Vegas…

2 hours ago

Verstappen stuck with 'draggy' rear wing for Vegas

Red Bull fears that its prospects for this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix - which…

3 hours ago

Ferrari and Mercedes admit to plank changes based on FIA’s TD

Ferrari and Mercedes have both modified their car’s floor element in Las Vegas to comply…

3 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Hamilton continues on top in second practice

Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on top of the timesheets for the second time in Las…

4 hours ago

2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas,…

4 hours ago