Verstappen "pleased" with Red Bull's Friday

Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen has expressed his happiness with his team's "better than expected" performance in Friday's two free practice sessions.

Verstappen was the fastest driver in FP1, leading a Red Bull one-two; before finishing narrowly off Valtteri Bottas' leading time in FP2.

"The car seems to be working really well again, better than expected just like we experienced in Brazil," Verstappen said to The Checkered Flag. "I felt positive right from the start which usually results in a good Friday performance."

The highly controversial new kerb at Yas Marinas had a run-in with Verstappen; and the Dutchman was perhaps fortunate to not cause some serious damage to his car.

"It was mostly smooth apart from a little moment I had and bottomed out on the long kerb," Verstappen added. "Luckily there wasn't too much damage so we carried on as usual. 

"I don't expect these kerbs to be an issue during the race as we should not be going that wide with our line."

Verstappen has been in tremendous form ever since the summer-break and he's aiming to wrap the season off in style for Red Bull with a win at Yas Marina Circuit.

"As we have seen already this season we are good at managing the tyres," the 21-year-old said. "I would expect this to be another circuit where tyre management is key to a good result, hopefully it plays into our hands again. Both long runs and short runs look good for the tyres so I'm pleased with how it has gone so far."