Verstappen: “miracle” to be on track

Max Verstappen has said that it was a “miracle” that the Red Bull managed to get out onto track after Pierre Gasly’s crash yesterday.

Gasly crashed high speed at turn 9, hitting the barriers, causing significant damage to the car and leaving mechanics working overnight to repair the car in time for testing this morning.

Old parts had been flown Thursday night to ensure that Verstappen could make it out onto track.

Verstappen said:  “The team worked so very hard to even let me drive today at all.

“We just had very few parts. Everything came over from England last night. So, it's a miracle we were even able to go out. 

“We were a bit short on gearboxes. Two were already broken in two crashes. So that was it.

“It wasn't great today but the speed looks alright. Looking at long runs the top teams are all fairly close. We can be happy with that.” 

The Dutchman was positive despite the setbacks encountered and confident ahead of the first race in Melbourne, praising the Honda engine in the process.

Verstappen added: "Last year the world championship was out of reach after the summer break. In Melbourne we need to score good points, no matter the positions. 

“We are fairly well on pace. Not sure whether it's enough, because we didn't really get to do low fuel runs. 

“If we look to the longer runs, it looks all pretty promising, so yeah, I’m looking forward to start racing now. 

“I think we have a pretty good package. And also the engine seems to work really well. So I’m really happy about that.”