Verstappen is ready after final tests: 'We are well prepared'
Published on 28 February 2020 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen finished the sixth and final day of Winter testing in Barcelona with 45 laps to his name. After a somewhat interrupted first half in the afternoon, the Dutchman ran on the C2-, C3- and C4-tyres. The latter brought him his fastest time, a 1:16.269. Valtteri Bottas topped the board this Friday as he was 0.073 seconds faster on the C5-tyres. Ferrari had a very productive day. Charles Leclerc took his car no less than 181 times round Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
After the tests on Friday, Max talks to Verstappen.nl on how he looks back at the Winter testing: “In general positive. The last few days, we actually tried everything we wanted to, so I am very happy with that. We have had a good preparation and that was the most important thing for us. I am happy, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t need to push anymore to keep improving the car.”
The Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-driver feels very comfortable in the new RB16: “You could see that everyone was doing slightly faster laps today and I cannot complain either. We haven’t even tried out the softest compound yet and the feeling in the car was good, so that is positive. Let’s hope that we are competitive in Melbourne, but that always remains a question. From our side, we have done as much as possible to get to know the car.”
The fact that the team wasn’t focused on doing any long runs today was not an issue at all according to Verstappen: “I was kinda done with that after last week, haha! Maybe we didn’t do that many laps today, but that was never really the plan.”
Mercedes remains the team to beat, but Max is not keen on looking at others: “We all know who is also really quick and that is Mercedes. They will always be fast. On the other hand, you don’t want to look at them too much because you still don’t know what exactly they are doing. It’s better to focus on yourself”, says the Dutchman.
At the start of the session, as oppose to the morning session, it has gotten a bit more cloudy on Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The view is blocked in the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing garage for the first 30 minutes in the afternoon. The team is still busy working on the car. After this, Max Verstappen heads out on track for an installation lap. After a brief stop at his team, the Dutchman continues on. His first timed lap is a 1:18.261, clocked on the white C2-tyres.
The first hour-and-a-half, we see Max mainly in his pit box. By then he only has a mere eight laps to his name. After this, they youngster sees some more action. During a new stint, he betters his time on the C2-compound to a 1:17.340. Moments later he manages to shave off a bit of that to a 1:16.805. Halfway the afternoon session he has lapped the track 21 times.
The Verstappen is able to put the pedal to the metal in the RB16, is evident when we see him leave the pits on a set of the yellow mediums and do a 1:16.444. A few minutes later, the Red Bull-driver takes off six hundredths of a second off of this time.
In the final hour of the session and for the first time during this Winter testing, Max straps on the soft C4-tyres which moves him up the ranks on the board. After a few quick laps, Verstappen clocks a 1:16.269, which puts him in P2. At that moment, Valtteri Bottas holds the number one spot with a 1:16.196, driven on the C5-tyres.
In the dying minutes of the session, Max appears to go after the fastest lap time. But just before crossing the line, the Dutchman lifts. This means that the time he previously set, still stands. He finishes the session in second with a total of 45 laps to his name.
