Verstappen focuses on the race in Bahrain: "Lots of degradation"

Max Verstappen had a difficult start to Friday during the first free practice, but eventually ended the second free practice in front of Valtteri Bottas and just behind Lewis Hamilton. He sees the day mainly as positive.

“We didn't do much running in the first session. We tried some things that didn't quite work, so we lost some time on that. The second practice was alright. We still have some things to understand but it was generally a positive Friday," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1, after which he says he doesn't want to focus too much on qualifying.

“It will become clear, but you can clearly see that they [Mercedes] are quick again. This is no surprise, but we just have to focus on an even better balance of the car. Then we just have to focus on the race, because the tyre are really tricky, lot of degradation lap after lap," he concluded.