Max Verstappen sees positive signs for his recovery drive after a strong Friday at the Italian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman was less than four-tenths slower than pacesetter Charles Leclerc in practice, as an ultra-low downforce approach is helping negate their power deficit.
However, comparisons to the frontrunners aren’t particularly of interest to Verstappen, who instead faces having to come through the field on Sunday.
“It was a good day,” he told his official website post-session.
“Despite the fact that we still lack top speed on the straight, we still seem quite competitive. Both the short and the long runs seemed pretty good and that is of course also important for Sunday, as we will start at the back. ”
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The reason for Verstappen’s penalty is the taking on of Honda’s new Spec 4 engine, which was first given to teammate Alex Albon and Daniil Kvyat at Spa.
“The car did very well and everything went smoothly in the motor area, that is therefore always positive,” Max noted.
“I definitely think this new engine is a good step forward and you can feel the extra power which is positive.
“At least I’m looking forward to Sunday. It will be difficult to overtake Ferrari and Mercedes, but a fifth-place should normally be possible.
“I would probably choose rain starting at the back, as we will have a better chance of coming through the field, but even in the dry we can still be competitive and we will try to make a fun race out of it.”
On Albon’s side, he showed strong pace to finish within three-tenths of Verstappen in sixth in the dry and also looked remarkably comfortable in his first wet session at Red Bull.
“We had mixed conditions, so we started out quite slowly but built up our confidence throughout the day,” he explained.
“We are expecting similar conditions on Sunday so that is why everyone was out there trying to do some laps.
“I found the short runs were more positive than the long runs and, after today, I have a good idea about the things I need to change and work on for Sunday’s race.
“Of course, it’s not easy adjusting to less downforce, the braking feels different, but overall it didn’t feel too bad. I’m just finding my feet and that makes it important to get everything right. We will see what tomorrow brings but after today I’m feeling pretty good.”