Formula 1

Max Verstappen: “I think Mercedes might still have an advantage”

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Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd

The final day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was reserved for wet track testing, conditions Max Verstappen has relished in previously. And the Dutch driver lived up to his bad weather reputation by leading the way in the spray. He finished second with a best lap time of 1:21.769.

Despite their best efforts, Pirelli‘s “rain” failed to hold its own against the Catalan sun and the sessions soon ended up being further practice on the slick compounds. But the day did allow Red Bull Racing to add to their weekly lap total and place the RB13 under further scrutiny in terms of reliability.

“It’s always good to run a little bit in the wet in the first week of testing,” he said. “Of course, the conditions are not ideal, as the sun is shining and the track is wet, but at least we got a first idea of what the wet tyres are like.

“In terms of the week as a whole, the most important thing for us was to make mileage and to know that all the parts were holding up. In general everything behaved pretty well.”

Verstappen considers Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team as their biggest competition, but expects the RB13 to have evolved before the season opener in Melbourne later this month.

I think Mercedes might still have an advantage on us in terms of power at the beginning of the season but we’ll be catching up. For sure the car will change quite a bit before we get to Melbourne, as it will for everyone.”

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