Verstappen predicts 'tight' Ferrari battle in qualifying

Max Verstappen expects a close battle between Red Bull and Ferrari in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the light of Friday’s practice results.

While the Dutchman and his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo ran Mercedes close in FP1, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel leapfrogged them in the second session to emerge as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s closest competitor.

“It was okay,” Verstappen said of his first day at Yas Marina Circuit. “We are not too far off and of course Ferrari looks pretty strong as well. On my fast lap I had traffic at the last corner so I’m pretty sure we are close so it will be an exciting qualifying.

“We always tend to improve from Friday to Saturday so I am pretty sure today was not that bad. I am looking forward to tomorrow as it will be close and hopefully we can have a clean qualifying.

“It will be tight, I think Ferrari is quite strong this weekend but I am pretty sure we can be even stronger so let’s see.”

Verstappen is actually more focussed on challenging Mercedes in Abu Dhabi. When asked whether undercutting Hamilton and Rosberg at the first round of pit stops would give Red Bull a potential edge on race day, the 19-year-old added:

“Yes, but they are not stupid. The problem is you can try to undercut but you will come back on track in traffic and then it doesn’t work.

“There are a lot of factors that will play into that but I think the most important thing for us is to be as close as we can in qualifying to at least race them.

“We have to wait and see, I think they are very strong and in qualifying they turn up their engines as well.”

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