Max Verstappen has proclaimed that he is ready to go for pre-season testing in Barcelona having had the honour of driving the Red Bull RB16 for the first time during a shakedown at Silverstone’s national circuit.
The Dutchman who is hopeful that this will be the car that will take him to his first FIA Fomula 1 World Championship title completed 100km’s worth of track time on the team’s filming day; after getting out of the car Verstappen told of his eagerness to get the 2020 season started.
“The important thing today is getting the car running so that everything is up to speed before we get to Barcelona,” said Verstappen.
“It’s been a while since I was in a Formula 1 car and I was really looking forward to this morning. Once you fire up, you’re straight back into it, but before then, there’s always a sense of anticipation about what the new car and engine will feel like. Today everything went smoothly and I’m looking forward to testing next week.”
Verstappen also wants to see himself and Red Bull improve and compete for the title with it being four years of race wins and pole positions but no World championships for either team or driver.
“The target for the whole team is, of course, to be in a position to fight for the championship and improve on last year. The Team is very motivated and everyone worked very hard over the winter and I think we are in a good way.
“I can’t wait to get started and hopefully we can be competitive from the start and then I think it can be a really interesting and fun year.”
Verstappen’s teammate Alexander Albon will test the RB16 during the pre-season testing next week in Barcelona.
