Verstappen: 'We didn't show our maximum'

Statement

Of course, it's always a question of how far the teams went to the max. In any case, Verstappen and Red Bull made a statement by driving number two Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari to a whopping seven-tenths. Moreover, the Dutchman did so on tires that were one compound harder than Leclerc's.

Yet Verstappen is not yet running too fast. "The car felt good, also in terms of balance. The latter is very important," he told Verstappen.com. "We were able to finish our test program, which is always positive. The new parts we had on the car today worked well, as hoped. We learned a lot about the car these days and made it faster, exactly what our goal was. "

Natural progression

Verstappen continued: "Going faster and faster is the natural progression during the day, also because we are trying out different tires with a view to the Grand Prix next week. Nobody has shown everything yet, including us. I think this season is not necessarily about how you do the first three races, but how fast you can develop. Everything is new and there is a lot to learn about the car, so we need to get faster and faster throughout the season and keep making progress."