Max Verstappen admits he is still getting to grips with his new Red Bull car despite a strong day of testing in Barcelona.
The Anglo-Austrian team kicked off their new engine partnership with Honda and can certainly be satisfied with 128 laps on the board, with only Ferrari and Mercedes achieving more.
It was a steady start initially in the morning before getting into their stride towards lunchtime and the afternoon, and the message was simple from Verstappen in the paddock afterwards.
“So far so good,” the Dutchman declared. “Everything was working quite well, we did quite a lot of laps. I’m happy about that but it’s still the first day.
“We’re happy and we’ll keep improving. Like everyone else we still need to learn the car, still need to learn the engine.”
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Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was particularly pleased with how smooth the transition from Renault appears to be going.
“It’s running well at the moment,” he said. “It’s been problem-free. We’re just learning about the engine, the procedures, how it works compared to what we’ve had previously.
“It’s a very good starting point. The installation looks great, it’s beautifully integrated into the car and we’re hopefully going to see exciting progress through the year.”
Having been in the car for both the shakedown and Day 1, Verstappen will finally let new teammate Pierre Gasly have a turn in the RB15 on Tuesday.