Max Verstappen finished sixth during the second free practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Still, the Dutchman is positive about his chances for the rest of the weekend, but the circuit does not get a compliment.
''Slippery'' is the first thing Verstappen says to F1TV after the session. ''Of course, we didn't really run a lot in FP1, so it took a bit of time to rubber in a little bit more, and I think at the end it was a little bit better. We managed to do the whole programme, which I guess was the most important for today. '
Asked if Verstappen found it a fun track to drive on, comes the by now familiar answer: ''No. No, I've had better tracks in my life. I already said that yesterday. There was nothing new that I discovered or whatever. We just get on with it..''
Over one lap, Verstappen came to a sixth time, but things were already looking a little better in the long runs. Acknowledging that there is some work to be done, Verstappen was particularly surprised by the level of wear on the soft and medium tyres.
''The soft over one lap, of course, is good. The long run was a bit more difficult. It seemed like the soft tyre was struggling quite a lot out there. So, we very quickly went on to the medium. But it seems that even the medium is not a straightforward tyre as well in the long run. So there are things that we have to look into to see how we can improve our degradation in the long run. I think we still look very good compared to others as well. But I feel like maybe we can still do a better job."