Max Verstappen says the in-season test in Bahrain has come at a good time to allow the Red Bull team to attempt to get on top of their grip and balance issues.
Red Bull Racing were off the pace of Mercedes and Ferrari in Bahrain, with Max Verstappen due to finish a distant P5 until Sebastian Vettel’s error and a late Safety Car put him right on the cusp of the podium, a place he later said the team wouldn’t have deserved.
As a result, the team are using the two day in-season test at the same venue this week to attempt to get to the bottom of the problem after both drivers were left unhappy with the rear of the car in particular.
“It was a little bit wet, which is strange, but overall I think we had a good day,” said Max after completing the first day of testing on Tuesday. “We managed to get in a lot of laps to help us understand more about our performance over the race weekend, and I think we’ve already learned a lot, so that’s very positive. We don’t get that many days to really understand the car, and during a race weekend it all goes by so quickly, so days like today are very helpful. We knew what didn’t work over the weekend in terms of rear-end grip so we tried to work on that and I think we learned a lot.”
Max completed 62 laps en route to top spot on the day, usurping Ferrari’s Mick Schumacher in the closing stages. Red Bull young driver Dan Ticktum is at the wheel of the RB15 on Wednesday.
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