Despite topping the times in both FP1 and FP2 for the 2023 British Grand Prix, ominously for his punch-drunk rivals, Max Verstappen has tasked his team to improve the Red Bull for qualifying on Saturday.
The soon-to-be triple F1 World Champion, was again in stunning form today at Silverstone. Fastest whenever the #1 car was on track his top time was only a tad faster than Carlos Sainz’s superb effort in the Ferrari but notably Verstappen was a quarter of a second faster than his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
But the extremely good Red Bull RB19 has room for improvement according to Verstappen, suggesting qualifying pace will be dialed into the package on Saturday. He said in the team report: “It was quite a good day for us. It was a little slippery in the beginning but that’s due to the high pressures that we are running on the tyres.
“Of course, that is the same for everyone, but it makes it a bit more difficult in the low speed. I think in general the car has been performing really well so we can be happy with that. The performance has also been strong in both sessions and we could complete our programme.
Max has never won the British Grand Prix
“The long runs felt good as well so it’s pretty positive. From our side, we want to improve the car ahead of qualifying tomorrow but overall, it’s been a strong day,” declared Verstappen, who has yet to win the British Grand Prix. Red Bull last won at Silverstone with Mark Webber in 2012.
On a positive note for Perez, amid the motor racing hiding of his life, he does tend to get closer to Verstappen’s best efforts as Grand Prix race weekends progress and seems sure that will be the case: “I think we are looking good for qualifying and for the race.
“I am pleased with how the sessions went. We’ve spent a lot of time looking at the tyres today. The most important thing is to assess the data, learn from it and see where and how is best to use that information on Saturday.
“It has been a positive Friday overall, the car is feeling good and we made some positive progress from FP1 to FP2. There is still a lot of work to be done overnight but hopefully tomorrow we can make another step in the right direction,” added Perez, who finished second at last year’s British Grand Prix.