Verstappen announces a close battle with Ferrari

Behind the headline acts at Mercedes, the Red Bull team was also closely watched by observers during the test day in Abu Dhabi. As expected, the Austrian team was best of the rest with Max Verstappen in the initial session. However, the noteworthy information is that Red Bull was outpaced by a Ferrari during FP2. In conditions usually similar to qualifying and the race, Vettel, before his gearbox problem, was ahead of the 19-year-old driver, as well as Daniel Ricciardo.

Max Verstappen -> FP1: 3rd (1:43.297, 26 laps) / FP2: 4th (1:41.389, 24 laps)

After his demonstration in Brazil, we were eager to see the Dutchman back on track. Despite dropping one place in the rankings between the two sessions, there was satisfaction. “It was a positive day,” commented the Spanish Grand Prix winner.

The only minor downside to his day was this early return five minutes before the end of FP2. While remaining vague, he still reassures his supporters:

We had some issues with the car, which led us to abort the last run. We wanted to check the car to make sure we are ready for tomorrow morning. Nothing is broken and there’s nothing to worry about, we stopped earlier as a precaution.

Three-tenths behind Vettel, Verstappen’s car seemed well-tuned. Even though he complained about it over the radio, his tire degradation was not too pronounced.

« The track is still tricky with these different temperatures » (between FP1, held in broad daylight; and FP2, held at sunset). « Our pace wasn’t too bad while the balance of the car was under control. The ultra-soft tire degrades quite quickly but the soft tire seems to work well on its side. »

« It will be tight with Ferrari, they are quite strong this weekend. But I had a bit of traffic on my fast lap so I’m confident. »

Interesting point, Verstappen admitted that it will be difficult to challenge Mercedes under normal racing conditions.

A race interrupted by safety car interventions would actually be the best chance to shine:

« We can try to do things differently, but if you go back into traffic, it can’t work.

For them, the most important thing will be to qualify well. We have to wait and see, Mercedes is very strong, and during Qualifying, it might turn in their favor.

A positive day! Always room for improvement, but so far I’m happy with the balance of the car and the race pace. #keeppushing #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/m3Jq2zP6i6

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) 25 novembre 2016

Daniel Ricciardo -> FP1: 4th (1:43.362, 27 laps) / FP2: 5th (1:41.390, 33 laps)

Max Verstappen is not the only challenger capable of taking on the Silver Arrows. Daniel Ricciardo appeared slightly more behind this Friday in Abu Dhabi, each time trailing his teammate. But like the Hamilton-Rosberg duo, the margin was even smaller in FP2: just one tiny thousandth of a second!

Separated by a thousandth! It’s P4 for Max with a 1:41.389 and P5 for Daniel, 1:41.390 as the flag comes down for FP2 🇦🇪🏁 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/0hVGIRUUbm

— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) 25 novembre 2016

Totally relaxed after securing his third place in the drivers’ championship, Ricciardo can dive into the last battle of the season without any second thoughts. Especially since his tire management seemed convincing, even more so than Verstappen’s.

« It’s hot here, even at night. The tires have worked quite well at the front and rear. Compared to the others, we’re not bad. If we put everything into it, there will be a nice battle for third place. »

Predictably, Ricciardo prefers to focus only on this position first. The gap was also quite significant with the Mercedes in pure performance, especially in FP2. Nevertheless, he assured again, he will try everything from the qualifying session.

« As expected, the Mercedes are ahead but I don’t think there’s that much of a gap. Here, you can really push to the limit so we will see tomorrow. Maybe Nico will hold back a bit and won’t challenge Lewis too much. »

In this perspective, the winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix is convinced that Hamilton will secure the first place tomorrow afternoon.

« I think everyone expects a pole from Lewis tomorrow. So it will be interesting to see how it goes. »