A weekend start in the right rhythm for Toro Rosso
Performance and reliability on point for both Toro Rosso on the Bahrain circuit. Max Verstappen finished the second Free Practice session in fourth position while Carlos Sainz primarily accumulated an interesting series of laps. Both drivers even took the opportunity to put an end to the Melbourne controversy!
Max Verstappen started the second weekend of this season well. Eighth in the first session, the young Dutchman climbed to fourth place by late afternoon, with a time of 1:32.406, naturally on super-soft tires.
He thus admitted to having had a very good start to the weekend! Of course, there are things to improve, but we didn’t encounter any major problems.
Indeed, Jos’s son completed a total of 50 laps in three hours. « You never really know what the other drivers are doing exactly, in any case, we had a lot of track time, which is very positive. »
On the other side of the garage, Carlos Sainz also had a pleasant day. 57 laps completed for the only Spanish driver still in the running this weekend. He primarily focused on long stints on mediums, which might explain the time difference with his garage neighbor.
« It was a pleasant day! We completed long stints without difficulty, which is very important for a Friday. Of course, we need to fine-tune our tire strategy, but I must say we did our job well. I think we are in a good position for the rest of the weekend. »
On this otherwise quite ordinary Friday for these two young drivers, the journalists present at Sakhir nonetheless obtained answers to the questions raised by the Australian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen addressed the controversy marked by a controversial strategy that saw him stuck behind his teammate for the entire end of the race.
In an interview with Autosport magazine, he apologized to his team. It was evidently quite an emotional moment.
« I also made a mistake. Together, we are a team: we win and lose together. »
« We can learn from our mistakes in order to improve for the next time. »
Carlos Sainz also agrees with his teammate, stating that there is nothing more to clarify with him. The incident seems to be over now. Until the next on-track skirmish between the two men?
