The defending F1 world champion topped second practice ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix by just 0.087s from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with his teammate Carlos Sainz slotting into third place to cap an impressive day for the Italian squad.
With Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto confident it has closed the 25bhp engine deficit to rivals Mercedes and Red Bull with its updated power unit, Verstappen sees Ferrari as a major rival but isn’t certain on the true performance order yet.
“You can see Ferrari is pushing hard, and they’re very close, but that’s very exciting as well,” Verstappen said.
“We have to wait and see a little bit, also with engine modes tomorrow from all the teams to really see where we are.
“I think everyone is still not like in qualifying spec, so we have to wait. But it’s looking good.
“I think that’s in general what everyone wants, right? The teams a bit closer together. I think over time, it will only get close, so I think that’s good.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull…
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