Verstappen excited by "difficult" Portimao track

Despite his incident in the second free practice session with Lance Stroll, Max Verstappen is quite pleased with the first two sessions of the weekend in Portugal. The Red Bull Racing driver states that a lot of progress has already been made and that there is room for improvement on Saturday and Sunday.

"I think it was not easy with the new tarmac," Verstappen wrote on his official website after the second free practice session. "It seems quite slippery and only like one proper line that you can drive. And, as you go maybe a little too wide you loose grip and tyres seemed to switch on very late. So, it's quite tricky around here."

It didn't stop Red Bull from tinkering with the RB16 to find the right set-up for the rest of the weekend. Progress has certainly been made, the 23-year old Dutchman says. "Overall, we improved the car from FP1 to FP2. So, it all feels a little bit nicer to drive."

On the first day at the Portimao circuit, the Austrian team trailed Mercedes but they are confident they can improve. "We just keep on working and improving even further because there is still a lot of things that we can do better around here."