Spanish GP: Post- Friday Practice reaction from Red Bull

After failing to challenge Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton’s pace in last Sunday’s Portuguese GP, Red Bull arrived to Barcelona with the hopes of putting regaining champions under pressure.

Sunday’s Spanish GP will be a milestone race for Max Verstappen, it will be a 100th race Dutch Man in Red Bull colors. Talking about his milestone, Max said, “Getting to 100 races with Red Bull has gone so quickly to be honest, I didn’t know it had been that many! I enjoy being part of the Team for as long as I have. The atmosphere is great and there is a lot of motivation and energy here from everyone.”

It’s a special track for both Red Bull drivers, with Max claiming his 2016 Spanish Grand Prix win on debut with the team, while Checo holds fond memories of this circuit, he scored his first points in F1 with a P9 finish with Sauber during 2011 Spanish GP.

At the end of the Free Practice One, Max brought his RB16B back in P2. He posted a 1.18.537  fast lap from a total of 19 laps. While Checo finished the session in P9 with a fastest time of 1:19.349 from a total of 17 laps.

Friday afternoon’s Free Practice Two saw Max finish in P9 after setting a best time of 1:18.785. The Dutchman managed 26 laps of the circuit. Checo came home in P10 with a 1:18.918 and 23 laps to his name.

Both Bull’s lost lap times during qualifying simulation in FP2 due to traffic. So the timesheet not present the real picture where things stand in terms of performance. Max expressed his happiness with the car after completing his program on Friday.

Max Verstappen:

“Overall I think we actually had quite a good day and the car seems pretty competitive. I was a little bit wide at Turn 10 on my push lap in FP2 but there is nothing shocking to report from either session. The track changes to Turn 10 seem better over one lap when you are pushing. It is a bit faster and more enjoyable to drive, but for overtaking I think it could be worse. How competitive we are going to be tomorrow is always going to be a question mark on a Friday but from our side we are quite happy. Of course you always want to improve and do better so we just have to make sure tomorrow that we are up there but I’m looking forward to it.”

Sergio Perez:

“It was a tricky day today. We had a couple of delays in both sessions which meant we were rushing a little and running into some traffic, and with less practice time this year it’s important to get the laps in. Tonight we’ve got some understanding to do and pace to find, especially over one lap. I think our long run pace is stronger but there’s work to do. Let’s see what we can find because qualifying here is especially important. Hopefully we can recover the pace and be in the mix tomorrow.”