Verstappen: The Abu Dhabi circuit suits our car

In the first practice Max Verstappen lost the car to the young Liam Lawson, and in the second he led the protocol…

Max Verstappen (1st): “I am very satisfied with how the training went, the track in Abu Dhabi suits our car well. In the morning Liam did a great job, he was fast and steady – we had counted on that.

In the second session we tried different settings, on a long range of circles the car worked really well – I’m happy. Tonight we will think about how we can do even better tomorrow, but this weekend we need to be competitive in qualifying and in the race.”

Sergio Perez (5th): “Today the car was fine, we had two interesting practice sessions – they turned out to be very different. In the morning it was more difficult because of the heat, but this weekend the second session is important, when the conditions match those that await us in qualifying and the race.

We gathered enough information to prepare for qualifying, showed good pace on long runs, but I need to improve on the fast lap. There are several points that need to be analyzed in order to achieve more. It is very important to have a high race pace on this track.”

Liam Lawson (5th in the first session): “Great day! I got behind the wheel of Red Bull Racing for the first time during the main session of the Grand Prix weekend. Before the start of the session I was a little nervous, but then I immediately felt comfortable – the car is really good.

I’ve managed to ride a long distance on hard and on soft – there’s a very noticeable difference between the two. It’s great that I was able to try Soft.

In Mexico I drove AlphaTauri, but it is difficult to compare these tire compounds – Mexico City is a completely different track, located at a much higher altitude. Today is a great day, I am grateful to the team for this opportunity.”