Max Verstappen expressed encouragement at Red Bull’s pace, off the back of a troubled weekend at Monza, as he finished close to Mercedes during second practice for Formula 1’s Tuscan Grand Prix.
Following on from a difficult weekend at Monza last weekend, in which it failed to score, Red Bull ended FP2 in third place with Verstappen, just over two-tenths down on session-leader Valtteri Bottas.
Alexander Albon trailed his team-mate by over seven-tenths but still managed to occupy fourth place at the chequered flag.
Verstappen, who has been Mercedes’ most consistent challenger in 2020, says improvements can be found in relation to the RB16’s balance but is nonetheless encouraged by the gap to the World Champions.
“[It was a] good day, we can be pretty pleased with how the car was behaving,” he said. “We were not too far off Mercedes, so that’s a good thing.
”Also balance-wise, of course there’s things to improve, but overall, pretty pleased.”
Albon mirrored Verstappen’s comments, adding: “It was good, still some areas to find a bit more balance in the car. But actually, [I’m] relatively happy.
“Coming from Monza, we were struggling a little bit so [it’s] a bit more of a conventional circuit. Fingers crossed things are back to normal.”
Both drivers were also pleased with how the tyre wear played out around the high-energy Mugello track, with Verstappen admitting he “expected it to be worse.”
However, Albon suggested that drivers will have to make several stops to the pit lane for fresh tyres.
“They’re [the tyres] holding up surprisingly well,” he said. “Not too sure why, even the softs are performing pretty well. It’s all looking pretty reasonable out there.
“I don’t think we’ll have any of the issues that we had in Silverstone, but I still think we’ll be doing a few pit stops.”
