Verstappen serves up a positive spin despite nightmare start for Red Bull teammate Hadjar

Speaking to GPblog on the first day of testing in Bahrain, the Dutch driver chose to emphasise the positives, in contrast to the struggles experienced by teammate Isack Hadjar.

“I think, in general, for us it's been a very positive start to the year, building a whole new, fresh power unit from the ground up. It's been really impressive to see. It's been really enjoyable working with everyone, and of course, it's a very proud moment for all of us. So yeah, it's been nice,” Verstappen began.

The four-time world champion continued by touching a little on the problem of the team’s power unit, before quickly circling back to how impressed he was with what the Red Bull outfit has been able to achieve.

“Today, maybe the start wasn't that great for the team. Also, last week we had one day where it was a bit more difficult. But I guess that's all to be expected, right? Overall, though, I'm very happy with the car. In general, we don't have too many, let's say, problems. So that's been okay,” he added.

When pressed about Hadjar’s difficulties, Verstappen described them as minor issues that the team would need to address.

“It's what I said before, right? Overall, it's been very positive for us, but of course, at the same time, there are some little things that, yeah, we need to improve on. That showed last week, and again this week. But yeah, just small things that we need to work on,” he concluded.

The Milton Keynes-based outfit witnessed its driver, Isack Hadjar, log the least mileage of any through the morning session after encountering a water leak issue on the car.

The issue experienced by the young French driver followed another problem he encountered during the second day of last week’s testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

While the Red Bull Racing team were left with a few head-scratchers to solve, Charles Leclerc and the Scuderia Ferrari outfit were largely flawless throughout the morning running.

The Monegasque driver clocked the quickest time of the season in the morning session.