Max Verstappen labelled a “positive day” for Red Bull following Friday’s pair of practice sessions for the team’s home race in Austria this weekend.
Verstappen finished second to Lewis Hamilton in the first 90-minute running, having spun at Turn 3 during the closing stages while on a lap in which he clocked the quickest first sector time.
Verstappen ultimately finished the day in fourth place, having slipped behind Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas, but was within 0.349s of Hamilton, and cut an optimistic tone.
“All in all, I think it was a positive day,” said Verstappen.
“We had a small issue with a brake connection at the start of FP2 meaning we had to take the floor off the car which lost us some time but we pretty much completed our programme so we can be happy with that.
“We still have some work to do tonight as I’m not fully happy with the balance we had today but we are also not too far off.
“We always know that in qualifying Mercedes will turn up their engines and of course the weather here can change very quickly, so it will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow.”
Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo placed fifth, 0.041s down on Verstappen, and is hopeful that Red Bull will be able to remain in the hunt throughout the rest of the weekend.
“It was another good Friday today and we seemed to be relatively competitive,” said Ricciardo.
“I didn’t really get to do a proper long run at the end because we had a couple of issues but otherwise it was a smooth day.
“The top five cars were within four-tenths so hopefully that remains for tomorrow and then it’ll be quite an exciting show for the weekend.
“I’m sure Mercedes will probably turn it up for qualifying but I hope we can stay in that fight.”
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