Verstappen Hoping for Rain in Qualifying

Max Verstappen says that he has had a positive start to the season after finishing third and second in FP1 and FP2 on Friday in Melbourne and is hoping for rain during qualifying as he tries to beat Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen was the closest to pace setter Lewis Hamilton, finishing only one tenth away from the reigning world champion in FP2.

The Dutchman said: “For me this has been a positive start to the weekend so I am really happy about that.

“The car has behaved well on the track which is always pleasing after only running in Barcelona to date.

“Of course we have only done two practice sessions so it is still hard to see who is strongest and how we will finish come race day.”

Verstappen is understandably happy with his pace, beating both Ferraris and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in both sessions.

He is now looking forward to qualifying, and given his prowess in the wet, he is happy that the forecast is for some rain on Saturday: “A little bit of rain over the rest of the weekend would help us out.

“Being wet means performance is less engine dependent and makes the power tricky to control.

“Our car is usually strong in the wet and I enjoy myself so fingers crossed we get some rain.”