Red Bull praises Verstappen after VT1: "That's amazing"

The Red Bull Racing team concluded the first free practice session with a third place for Max Verstappen and a seventh place for Alexander Albon. The Austrian stables couldn't match the speed of Mercedes in the morning session, but Christian Horner hasn't panicked yet.

"We'll slowly pick up the pace and the car will function as we hoped," Horner starts talking to Sky Sports. Verstappen hadn't driven an F1 car for more than four months, but he hardly seemed to be bothered by that. "Max was instantly up to speed. We didn't encounter any real problems either".

The team boss of the Milton Keynes-based formation then emphasized that Red Bull was able to finish the planned programme, despite a small spin from Verstappen. On the soft tyre the 22-year-old Dutchman lost the back of his RB16. "When entering the turn the car broke out quickly. There hasn't been much driving here lately".

Verstappen was looking for the limit

Verstappen was getting ready for a quick round, but it didn't come to that. "Max was looking for the limit and he just went over it," said the Brit, who said that had nothing to do with the setting of the RB16. "It's amazing that Max is able to give concrete feedback about the characteristics and driveability of the car after just one lap", Horner concluded praisingly.