Max reflects on Friday at Imola: 'They've made some steps.'

Published on 16 April 2021 by Stefan Meens

Following the first two practice sessions of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Max Verstappen caught up with Ziggo Sport’s Olav Mol to discuss the upcoming weekend. They spoke after Max finished third in FP1 and fourteenth in the afternoon practice session.

In both free practice sessions, you were not able to finish your fastest laps. “It’s of course a shame that we didn’t do many laps in FP2, which is the most important one. It’s not ideal for tomorrow, but generally speaking, every time I’ve been in the car, it felt good. I’m confident we can still have a good day tomorrow.”

Despite the sunshine, it was not particularly warm today. “No, it was cold and you can see with everyone that the tyres need one or two laps before they start to work. It’s difficult to manage the tyres.”

It looks like you hit traffic easily around this track. Any idea why? “During the first free practice session, we did not have radio communication, so everyone was just driving in each other’s way. Because there are a lot of blind corners and elevation changes, it’s difficult to look in the mirrors. For example, if you exit the pits and check your mirror, you can’t see if anyone’s on the straight because of a blind spot. It’s annoying.”

You have been to the driver meeting in which the track limits were discussed. What is your take on it all? “I think it’s clear. I think several people didn’t agree with how things went during the race. It needs to be more consistent and be the same during practice, qualifying and the race.”

Do you still think that a lot of people in the paddock believe the Red Bull is a tenth or a tenth and half quicker than the Mercedes? “I already said that Mercedes looks strong and that was the case in Bahrain. I think they have less issues with the rear here. It all looks a little smoother and it appears they’ve made some steps.”

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