Verstappen sees possibilities: 'Enough overtaking options if you have extra grip'

With two Mercedesses on the first row of the grid, Max Verstappen will hope to win places at the start to pose a danger to Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. The Dutchman will start from third place himself, with Alexander Albon next to him. In an interview prior to the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Dutchman announces that he is ready for the race.

"I am still very relaxed at the moment. We need to see what will happen in the race. It depends on the tyres whether you can overtake. The track offers plenty of opportunities, if you have that extra grip. It's not specifically one corner. We have to wait to see how the strategy works out. At the moment I am not thinking about it very much. I just want to start and then we'll see where we end up," Verstappen explains to the official channels of Formula 1.

On Twitter the message circulated that Jos Verstappen would be on the paddock in conversation with Toto Wolff. Verstappen responded that his father was probably just sitting at home. "I got videos and eventually I called him. It was very weird to read that on Twitter."

Finally, Verstappen had a message for his Dutch fans. "I'm curious what we can make of it. We have different tyres compared to Mercedes and hopefully that can give us an advantage in the race. It is difficult to say at the moment. I hope that we can score a lot of points and of course be back on the podium," concludes Verstappen.