Max Verstappen believes Ferrari will be “very hard” to beat at Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix off the back of pace shown during Friday practice.
Ferrari finished 1-2 in both 90-minute practice sessions held at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday, with Charles Leclerc six-tenths clear of Sebastian Vettel.
Verstappen was sixth, over a second down, albeit having not completed a representative Soft tyre run due to an engine glitch, which required a precautionary trip to the garage.
“The e car was good in second practice, but we were a bit down on power compared to what we normally run on Friday, but I think that should be fixed for tomorrow,” said Verstappen.
“But yeah still, I think Ferrari will be very fast. I think they will be very hard to beat. We’ll try to be close to Mercedes.
“Think this track definitely suits them a bit better than us. They are very strong. They gain a lot of lap time on the straight here, but I think that’s not a surprise.”
Verstappen has been joined at Red Bull for the rest of 2019 by Alexander Albon, who has taken the seat of Pierre Gasly, with the Frenchman heading in the other direction.
Albon finished within a tenth of Verstappen in FP1 though rounded out the day at the foot of the top 10, three-tenths behind the Dutchman, having been able to carry out a Soft tyre run.
“I’m just finding my feet really, understanding the car,” he said.
“It does feel very different to the Toro Rosso so I was just understanding the positives and learning how the team work and how the car works.
“You’ve got the driving style you learn at Toro Rosso and you spend six months driving that way and you come to the Red Bull car and you’ve got a memory of what the other car was like.
“You have to kind of re-wire your brain to start from zero again and go again.”
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