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Yesterday was a Friday to forget for Max Verstappen, who suffered issue after issue and had very little track time to get comfortable with the newly constructed Miami International Autodrome. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner reflected on the practice sessions of the two drivers, emphasizing that while the car seemed competitive, it would not have hurt to have had a decent number of laps for the Dutchman.
Describing the issues faced by Max Verstappen, Horner told Sky Sports F1:
“He’s had a horrible day. We had an issue this morning, so as a precaution we changed the gearbox and one of the coolers. Then he’s driven out of the pit lane and had a hydraulic issue, which unfortunately caused some damage to the rear brakes. He got a few laps in – I think he’s had five timed laps today which were all competitive, but thankfully with the red flags he’s not lost too much. But it’s frustrating not to have that track time."
“He will probably do a few more laps in FP3 than normal, just to get into the circuit. With a street circuit, you’ve just got to find your way into it – but we know how good Max is at adapting to new venues. I’m sure he’ll catch that time up."
Commenting on Sergio Perez's practice sessions on Friday, he added:
"Checo’s had a good session there. Long run, short run, we’ve got a lot of info from him, so we’ll be relying on all that knowledge this evening and that will influence the set-up direction Max takes for tomorrow as well, so his side of the garage had a good run.”
Given that several drivers have complained about the challenges regarding the new track, emphasizing the difficulties that drivers may face when it comes to overtaking, setting a competitive lap time in today's qualifying session will be imperative.
"We could have done a lot more today" - Max Verstappen on FP1 and FP1 at the Miami GP
Given that this is a track that nobody has driven on before, maximizing the practice sessions at the Miami GP is certainly a priority. Unfortunately, Max Verstappen had a less than ideal day, with a mere four to five laps of running before going into the final session on Saturday.
Dissapointed in the team, the reigning world champion reflected on his first on-track experience ahead of the inaugural Miami Grand Prix:
"Just not a good day. Of course, these days are extremely painful, especially on a track like this where you want to be out there and learn the track and get up to speed. I basically did four, five fast laps today... that's not what you want."
"Of course, I'll try to catch up but it's just not ideal, everyone is more into their running. Not only that, we have no information on the car and what we have to do, so yeah it's extremely painful. We just have to look at ourselves. I don't care what happens on the track with red flags... we could have done a lot more today."
Max Verstappen took his first win of the season two weeks ago at the Imola Grand Prix and will be desperate to catch up to championship leader Charles Leclerc.
