Hope for Verstappen: 'He would have matched Leclerc's time'

The first two free practice sessions of the Australian Grand Prix showed that it will seemingly be between Ferrari and Red Bull Racing once again this weekend. Although the Italians seemed to have a small lead, Lawrence Barretto writes on Formula1.com that Verstappen, however, had more in him.

From the beginning of the season, it was clear that Ferrari was Red Bull's new rival. At the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia GPs, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were on the podium both times. In Australia they also seem to have a good chance again.

However, the journalist warns Ferrari against the Austrians. Verstappen may not have managed to set the fastest time in either practice session, but given the observed data the Dutchman is very close to the competition. Barretto will therefore not be surprised if not Leclerc, but Verstappen takes pole position on Saturday morning for Sunday's race.

"Verstappen would have matched Leclerc’s time had he got all his best mini sectors together according to our data," Barretto states. "But the Dutchman encountered traffic on one of his soft tyre runs and then made a mistake at the penultimate corner on another."