Verstappen got out of RB18 feeling good in United States after Friday

Max Verstappen kicked off the Grand Prix weekend in the United States with a second place in the first free practice and a seventh place in the second free practice. However, the times from Friday's second practice session say nothing as this practice was entirely dedicated to testing the 2023 tyres for Pirelli. Verstappen is satisfied with his start in Austin.

"FP1 I think was quite good, we tried a few things with the car and it was pretty positive. We did as much as we could in FP1 as we knew we had to test the tyres in FP2," Verstappen said in Red Bull's press release. The reigning world champion said he tested the C1 tyre. "Which probably isn’t the best for this track, it was difficult to get a proper grip on it but at least we completed the programme."

Verstappen does not think tyre testing for Pirelli is a big disadvantage for him. "It’s the same for everyone. We have a bit of information from FP1 and I think the car was already in quite a decent window. Let’s see tomorrow – first of all – how we are over one lap."

Longrun's Red Bull

The third free practice session will be crucial for the course of the rest of the weekend. It promises to be a busy hour at the track, as all teams still have a relatively large amount of data to gather. The fact that the second free practice session fell away due to testing the new compounds also means that Red Bull has not really had time for a race simulation yet.

Verstappen: "Looking ahead to tomorrow, I think the long run is still questionable as we didn’t get the chance to do that in FP2. I did a track walk yesterday (Thursday) to see the bumps as they resurfaced parts of the track, also good for me to walk off the steaks I’ve been eating", he concluded jokingly.