Max fastest on first day of French GP: 'We can be well prepared for tomorrow'

Published on 18 June 2021 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen was quickest on the opening day of the French Grand Prix. The Red Bull Racing driver lapped the Paul Ricard circuit fastest of all, with Valtteri Bottas in second. His Mercedes team mate, Lewis Hamilton, completed the top three.

“I think we improved well during the session”, said Max after second practice. “In the first session I wasn’t entirely happy and at the start of FP2 it still wasn’t great. But on the second set of tyres, the car felt a lot better.”

“It’s challenging around here; it’s windy, so difficult to do a perfect lap. The wind comes from different directions onto the track and it can change from one lap to the next. It’s therefor difficult to judge your corner speed. But in the end, it’s the same for everyone.”

Looking forward to the rest of the weekend, the Dutchman said: “We have good pace, a strong engine and we can be well prepared for tomorrow.”

At the start of the sunny session, almost all drivers head out on track. Most of them do so on the medium Pirellis. After the first flurry of flying laps, the Mercedes of Hamilton and Bottas set the pace, with Max following closely.

In one of his following runs, Max damages his front wing, after driving over the sausage kerbs at turn two. A virtual safety follows to enable a brave marshal to pick up the RB16B’s debris.

Twenty minutes into the session, the teams start to slowly focus on qualifying simulations. Valtteri Bottas is the first of the front runners to do so. The Finn clocks the quickest lap of the session thus far.

With half an hour to go, Max heads out on track for his quali simulation. On a brand new set of soft Pirellis, Max sets a purple first and third sector, which, combined with a green middle sector, grants him the quickest lap of the day, narrowly beating Bottas.

As usual, the final third of the hour long session is used by the teams to focus on the long run pace of their cars. It does mean that the majority of lap times are not bettered and Max finishes the day at the top of the leader boards.

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Results second free practice France: