Verstappen optimistic despite Free Practice uncertainty

The discourse is more or less the same from garage to garage. At the end of the first day of Free Practice in Austin, all the teams remained cautious about their performances for the rest of the weekend. The 2nd session of the day being reserved for tests for Pirelli's 2023 tires, only Free Practice 1 was able to provide some keys to the settings for the drivers.

Red Bull et Max Verstappen were no exception to the rule. The Dutchman, 2nd during the first session, said he was confident for the rest of the weekend despite running forced by the Pirelli tests. “The EL1s were quite good. We tried a few settings with the car and I think we got into it straight away, so that was very positive. » The double world champion was, however, slightly frustrated by FP2, which he had to complete on the harder tires. “We knew FP2 was going to be different [with the tire test]. They gave me the C1 tire, which we don't even use here. It was a bit difficult to get the reading correct, but at least we completed the program”, said Verstappen, who placed 7th in the second practice session.

Verstappen one step closer to the record

Winner in Austin during the United States Grand Prix in 2021, Max Verstappen would like to reproduce this performance on Sunday. If he wins, he will equal the record number of victories in a season of F1 (13 successes, held by Schumacher et Hag). At the evening of the first day, the Batavian did not yet have his head in the race, preferring to focus on the settings to be determined for the rest of the weekend. “We have some information from FP1 and I think the car was already in a pretty decent window. We will see tomorrow (Saturday) how we are on a fast lap. The long runs are a bit more of a question mark, just because we all missed FP2, but I think we'll be fine. » In the event of victory, Red Bull could secure the constructors' title.

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