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Verstappen excited for lots of overtaking opportunities in China

Verstappen excited for "lots of overtaking opportunities" in China

08-04-2019 10:30
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Bobby Vincent

Red Bull Racing drivers Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly have previewed this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, with the former excited for the overtaking opportunities.

Verstappen has had a solid start to the season, with the Dutchman finishing on the podium (third) in the opening race, but could only managed a fourth-place finish in Bahrain last weekend.

His team-mate Gasly, has had a mixed start to the season and to his life at Red Bull, finishing in P11 in Melbourne, but impressed a tad more in Bahrain - where he managed his first points-finish for his new team, finishing in P8.

"The Chinese Grand Prix is always a good one for racing because the track gives you a lot of opportunities for overtaking, so I'm looking forward to hopefully having an exciting race there," Verstappen said in Red Bull's preview of the China Grand Prix.

"The first sector is really nice because you can take a lot of different lines through the long right-hander so it can be quite interesting during the race in terms of trying to stay out of the dirty air."

Gasly has revealed he does not know the Shanghai circuit very well, but described the track as "really special" as he prepares for his third race for Red Bull Racing.

"I'm really excited to go racing again for the third round of the season," Gasly said. "China is not actually a place I really know well and last year was my first race there but I'm looking forward to going back.

"Shanghai is a really special track with the long back straight and the technical part of the beginning. Now we just need to keep the improvements we've made from one race to another and hopefully we'll be able to find some performance and fight for even better points.

"Red Bull took its first victory in China and this year's race is also F1's 1000th Grand Prix, so it will be a special weekend."