F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Verstappen 'sure' he can bridge 0.7s gap to Ricciardo

Max Verstappen is confident he can close the gap he had to Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in free practice for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, with the Dutchman saying he made a mistake on his FP2 flyer.

The 18-year-old slotted into fourth in the afternoon session, a full seven tenths adrift of the lead RB 12 in second place. Both Red Bull drivers only completed one hot lap on Pirelli’s red-marked supersoft tyre before switching their focus to long runs.

“The difference in time [to Ricciardo] was that I made a mistake in the last sector and went off the track.,” Verstappen explained afterwards. “These things can happen. Luckily, they happened on a Friday and not on a Saturday.”

When asked whether he felt confident to cover that deficit, the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix winner replied: “Oh yeah, for sure.”

Red Bull was tipped as Mercedes’ nearest rival entering the Budapest event and appears to have the edge on Ferrari when running on the same compound. However, Verstappen refuses to discard the threat posed by the Scuderia.

“In FP1 we started quite easily and in FP2, it was much better, we were close to Mercedes. In the end it was quite a good day because also the long runs were looking pretty good so I was happy with that.

“I want to improve the car and I want to improve myself as well. It will be difficult because I think Ferrari is not too far away so we’ll see in qualifying what happens.”

REPORT: Mercedes advantage cut after Hamilton crash in FP2

Romain Grosjean column: Safety car starts and summer breaks

Chris Medland's 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix preview

TECHNICAL: Under the skin of the Mercedes W07

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

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

McLaren to review Sunday's fateful pit stop timing

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has insisted that the squad has no regrets about its…

5 mins ago

Williams' Boutsen hoists the mainsail in Adelaide

On this day in 1989, Williams' Thierry Boutsen secured his second F1 win when he…

1 hour ago

Horner: Max 'answered critics' with epic Sao Paulo GP drive

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hailed Max Verstappen’s sensational Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory…

2 hours ago

Sainz left puzzled by double crash drama in rainy São Paulo

Carlos Sainz was left scratching his head after a disastrous Sunday at the Sao Paulo…

3 hours ago

Alonso pushed through agonizing pain to complete Sao Paulo GP

Fernando Alonso braved both physical agony and mechanical challenges in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix,…

4 hours ago

Alpine double-podium in Brazil could deliver $30 million windfall

Alpine’s remarkable double podium at the São Paulo Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon and Pierre…

19 hours ago