Max Verstappen completed his second free practice session of the season at Austin and finished inside the top ten as he continued to prepare for his rookie Formula 1 season with the Scuderia Toro Rosso team in 2015, but insisted there is still more to come.
The seventeen-year-old Dutchman finished tenth fastest at Austin, completed 32 untroubled laps, and was less than a second slower than Daniil Kvyat after stepping into the car to replace Jean-Eric Vergne.
Verstappen, who made his first appearance in a Formula 1 car at Suzuka last month, continued to learn in the United States, and felt at first hand how the Pirelli tyres work differently on various tracks.
“The main difference between here and Japan was how the tyres behaved,” revealed Verstappen. “In Suzuka the fastest lap was the first and after it there was no way to improve, while here it took some time to get the lap in, but it’s good for me to see these differences and learn something more every time I’m in the car.
“Today I was also trying to understand the tyres better, lap after lap. I would say that the tyres aspect is the main point here. But the car in general was good, considering also Daniil’s performance.”
The Dutchman, who finished third in this years FIA European Formula 3 Championship whilst driving for Van Amersfoort Racing, insisted he was not at Austin to set lightning quick times but to adapt to life in Formula 1.
“I am not here to set a lap time but just to get confident with the car and learn as much as possible for next year,” said Verstappen. “I don’t need to find the limit now, there is time for that.”
