Verstappen looking forward to Sochi: "A lot of overtaking opportunities"

Looking ahead to this weekend's Russian Grand Prix, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen highlighted how well the Sochi Autodrom lends itself to overtaking, as the Dutchman overtook 14 cars in 2018 to finish fifth after starting 19th.

Verstappen stood on the podium once more in Singapore last weekend, although Red Bull were expected to be climbing the top step before the race weekend started. The RB15 wasn't as well equipped to the Marina Bay Street Circuit as people thought, however, making Verstappen's P3 finish all the more impressive as the attention of the 21-year-old now turns to Sochi.

"I was happy to be on the podium in Singapore and the Team made some good strategy calls in the race, and yes, I’m looking forward to Russia where there are more overtaking opportunities," he said.

"The track layout isn’t that amazing for us but it’s unique as most of the corners are 90 degrees which we don’t usually experience and it’s always challenging to go from high speed straights into low speed corners and get the best out of the car under braking. It’s a pretty flat track and you can see quickly if the car is working well through the more challenging corners. 

"Ferrari were very quick in Singapore and the straights in Sochi will suit them, but I have a few ideas about our performance last weekend that we’ll analyse and hopefully improve on in Russia."