Max second on Portimao opening day: 'It wasn't easy'

Published on 23 October 2020 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen finished the first day of the Portuguese Grand Prix weekend in second place. Only Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) was quicker around the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. Lando Norris was third fastest in his McLaren.

“It wasn’t easy with the new track surface. It was slippery and there is only one good line you can drive on. If you go too wide, you immediately lose a lot of grip”, explained Max afterwards. "It takes a while to get the tyres up to temperature. It was tricky and then the wind increased in the afternoon.”

Max continued saying: “We were able to improve the car between sessions and the car feels better and is better to drive. But we’ll keep working on the car to make it even better, because there are a couple of things we can do better. So we’ll see tomorrow.”

During free practice two, Max collided with Lance Stroll as the pair drove into the first corner. “I was surprised that he turned in, I had nowhere to go. I started my flying lap and he had just finished one. It was only FP2 so it was a shame that we touched”, concluded the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver.

As usual, FP2 is a 90-minute training in which the teams run both qualifying simulations and race runs. Friday’s afternoon session in the Algarve adds another ingredient; a Pirelli ‘blind’ tyre test in which the Italian tyre manufacturer allocates 2021 prototype tyres to all teams to use in the opening 30 minutes.

As the teams do not know which compound they are testing, lap times do not matter. Nevertheless, Max tops the leaderboard at the end of the Pirelli mini-test. After the prototype rubber is handed back, the teams go back to their usual testing regime.

At the halfway mark, the session is red-flagged; Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri has come to a standstill with flames spitting out the back of it. Gasly is able to escape unharmed but the same cannot be set of his car, which suffered a lot of damage before the fire could be contained by the marshals.

As soon as the circuit is cleared, it is busy on track, but not for long. As Max starts one of his flying laps, Lance Stroll has just finished his and is driving down the start/finish straight in front of the Dutchman. Max comes alongside the Racing Point and attempts to overtake the Canadian into the first corner. Stroll is unaware of Max’ presence and steers into turn one, leaving Max with no way to go but the Racing Point’s side-pod.

The collision ends with Stroll in the gravel traps and Max driving his damaged RB16 back to the pits. After a brief red flag to clear the Racing Point, the session is resumed for the remaining eight minutes in the lap times remain the same. It means Bottas is quickest of Friday, followed by Max.

Contest GP Portugal: win a Red Bull Racing 2020 softshell jacket!

Results second free practice Portugal: