Buoyed by his recent victory in Baku the previous Sunday, Verstappen made a strong start to the Formula 1 weekend at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve , the scene of the Canadian Grand Prix.
The championship leader was the fastest in the first free practice session and then repeated in the second test to close a round Friday, different from the one experienced by his teammate Sergio Pérez on the other side of the Red Bull garage.
In response to the media, the current champion was satisfied with a Red Bull in a very sweet spot.
“It was quite a positive day. I think the car behaved well straight away. Of course you are looking to find a more complete balance, but overall it was a good start for me to the weekend,” Verstappen said after the activity. of Friday.
The Dutchman indicated that the soft compound, which this weekend is Pirelli’s C5, the softest in the range, “is the most difficult to hit a lap” in Montreal , for which he assured that “there is definitely more time to achieve there, but we still have a competitive car and that’s good.
Max Verstappen not only finished satisfied with his one-lap performance, but also with what he achieved in race simulation for Sunday.
“The long runs were good. It’s tough on the tires here, so we have some things to improve on, but even with the things I want to improve on, it’s been a good day,” he insisted.
For Saturday there is a good chance that the qualifying session will be affected by rain, but that is not something that worries Verstappen.
“It’s the same for everyone, we’ll deal with that. It’s good to see that for Sunday we have a competitive car. What happens tomorrow, we’ll see.”
In addition, Verstappen already knows that his main rival for the 2022 F1 Drivers’ World Championship (despite the fact that the second-placed team is Pérez), Charles Leclerc, will be able to start eleventh at most on Sunday after a change in his Ferrari engine that makes him penalize.
Before this race, the #33 got 34 points to the Monegasque, and 21 to Checo Pérez.
