Verstappen: I am happy with the speed in the long term

Max Verstappen recorded the sixth fastest time in the second training session of the Bahrain Grand Prix. The current world champion suggested that the rivals could already demonstrate their true speed, while Red Bull Racing was working on its own program, focusing on race preparation.

Sergio Perez, who posted the tenth fastest time, confirmed his teammate’s words and predicted a tight battle in qualifying.

Max Verstappen (6th): “Everything isn’t too bad, because the holes are minimal. Some teams may have already used engine tuning to achieve maximum speed. We concentrated on our own tasks.

There were balance issues in both the front and rear of the car, but nothing serious. The challenge comes down to finding the optimal settings, especially on this track with sanding asphalt. Once we find them, we immediately gain back a lot of time.

We’re not that far behind. We also wanted to focus on longer-term work. Qualifying is important, but we want to make sure the car is in good condition for the race.

I am more satisfied with our speed in the long term, although there are still some areas we can improve. I’m not afraid of falling behind in first place; the battle in qualifying will be very hectic, which is great.”

Sergio Perez (10th): “The training went as expected. The difficulty of training in Bahrain is that only the second session takes place at the same time as qualifying and the race, which are crucial.

The day turned out to be interesting. Thanks to tests we already know a lot about the car and today we continued this work, especially with the balance. In general everything went well. When we talk about the car settings, they are more suitable for the race than for qualifying.

After the tests everyone said that we were one second faster than the rest, but we knew very well that the results were much tighter. It will be a tough battle tomorrow.”