Verstappen expecting closer battle with rivals in Jeddah

Despite topping both of Friday's free practice sessions for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen said he was expecting it to be a much harder battle for Red Bull this weekend.

Verstapen had almost half a second in hand over his team mate Sergio perez in FP1, but this gap shrank to two tenths in the more representative night time session with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso closest.

That looks ominous given that Verstappen wasn't quickest in any of the practice sessions in Bahrain, only to go on to romp to victory in Sunday's race.

• Read also: Verstappen stays top in second practice, Alonso edges Perez

But Verstappen said that victory this weekend wasn't the sure think it might look, and that the nature of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit would allow his rivals to get closer than they had in the season opener.

"Today out on track was about fine-tuning things," he commented. "We had a positive day, but there are still quite a few things we can do better.

"It's definitely not like Bahrain," he insisted in post-practice media interviews in the paddock. "On the long runs we all seemed fairly close to each other but it’s more because of managing the tyres

"They don’t really let you push around here at the moment. With a very low deg circuit then the lap times will always be very close, so it is definitely not going to be like Bahrain.”

Perhaps the best news for the team is that Verstappen is over the stomach bug that forced him to drop out of Thursday's media appearances.

“I am feeling a lot better after a few rough days of illness," he confirmed. "It wasn’t nice but I am feeling good now."

Meanwhile, Perez said he had been somewhat frustrated on Friday, despite coming P2 in the first session and only narrowly pipped by Alonso in the evening.

“We had a bit of an issue with the car mechanically,” he revealed. “There was a bit of inconsistency and it was difficult to get the proper read today.

“Hopefully once we fix that for tomorrow it will bring us a bit more pace, and we can have a better idea of where the car is. But generally the performance is there as expected."

Other than Alonso, Esteban Ocon showed some speed for Alpine in fourth ahead of Mercedes' George Russell, while Ferrari seemed to be under the weather with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz only P9 and P10 respectively.

“I do expect a few of the rival teams to step up tomorrow,” Perez insisted.

"Overall we seem to be strong, but the competition is there as expected," he added. "I’m sure our rival teams will work hard overnight to close the gap and we look forward to a competitive showing tomorrow.”

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