Verstappen finds hope in a good long run, but is still far from satisfied

After a disappointing weekend in the Netherlands, Verstappen needs a strong weekend at Monza. The first practice offered hope, as the Dutchman drove the fastest time. In the second free practice, the championship leader had a somewhat more difficult session.

Verstappen's reaction after free practice

Verstappen commented after FP2: "Just tried again, quite a few things. A few things today. And probably FP2 was initially not that great, but then it seemed like the long run was a little bit more competitive, but it seems quite aggressive on tyres at the moment. They are opening up, so, yes, quite interesting how that will evolve for the race as well. Yeah, I think we have quite a few good directions to take the car. Just need to tidy it up a bit and then I think it will be quite close, as you can see, between a lot of cars. Hopefully we can be in that mix."

The defending champion continued with saying: "Just trying different set of directions because, I mean, that's what, at the end of the day, what practise is for, and also things that we might want to learn a bit more about the car and that's why we're doing it."

Verstappen is partly hopeful

It is very hot in Monza. When Verstappen was asked about whether he thinks the hot temperatures are going to make Red Bull competitive at Monza, he answered: "Still a bit of work to do, to be really competitive. But like I said, FP1 actually felt quite decent. FP2 maybe not as much in the beginning, but then it felt a bit better in the long run. So now we just need to bring it all together to be in the mix for tomorrow."

This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi

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