Verstappen feeling 'positively surprised' in Spain

It was all sounding like very good news for championship leader Max Verstappen on Friday after the first two practice sessions for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Verstappen was fastest in both, his time of 1:14.606s in FP1 improving to 1:13.907s later in the day to keep him almost two tenths of a second clear of Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.

And there seemed to be very little on his mind when he spoke to the media in the paddock afterwards, with everything seeming to go Red Bull's way.

• Read also: Verstappen continues to set the pace in Spain second practice

“We had a good day today," he said. "I still need to look at the data and see how the other cars compare, but today was a good day.”

"The car was in a good window, and of course we will try to fine tune a few things here and there," he continued. "But the short runs and long runs look good."

Although all the drivers are well acquainted with the track which was for years the setting for pre-season testing, there's been a little added wrinkle this year after the final corners were remodelled.

The original double right-hander has now been restored, 15 years after it was replaced by a chicane. The new layout got the thumbs up from Verstappen, who felt that it would improve the possibility for on-track action in Sunday's race.

"The last two corners are better and more fun to drive," he reported. "F1 cars feel much better at high speed.

"I tried to follow a few cars through there as well and it seemed okay, I’m positively surprised by the overtaking opportunities."

The new profile got the thumbs up from other drivers as well, with Lewis Hamilton commenting that it was much more fun than the small chicane that was present up to last year.

It certainly seems to have cut at least a couple of seconds off the lap times compared to previous years, with the track up to six seconds per lap quicker.

Meanwhile Verstappen's Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez is hoping to bounce back this weekend after a horror show in Monaco.

The Mexican was second in FP1 albeit 0.768s behind Verstappen. He dropped to fourth in the standings in Fp2 but was much closer to the Dutch driver's pace, just 0.312s off the best lap time.

"Today was a good day, there is plenty of information for us to look at overnight. All in all I think there were lots of positives to take," he commented.

"The new variation on the last two corners is quite tough on the neck, but obviously it was a very short day and I think we will feel it more on Sunday," he added. "It could be tricky on the muscles!"

Perez said that much of today had been spent on testing new components and settings, as it's such a familiar circuit for the teams to run baseline comparisons on.

“We always try a lot of stuff in Barcelona, because it is always the most representative track we visit and really puts the whole season together.

"But we have to turn up a gear for Quali, as well as try to understand the tyres for the long run," he acknowledged. "This will be key for Sunday with the tyre degradation around this track.”

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