F1 | Verstappen optimistic ahead of qualifying in Abu Dhabi

Third position for Max Verstappen at the end of the first day of free practice valid for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the last round of this 2020 Formula 1 world championship. The Dutchman from Red Bull, after a brilliant FP1 which ended at the top of the standings, was not managed to make the most of the soft tire during the afternoon session (traffic by Perez during the time attack), an aspect that led him to have a significant gap from Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.

“Everything went well today, but there is still a lot of work to do to close the gap to Mercedes, which has returned to showing its usual strength,” said Max Verstappen. “I wasn't able to make the most of the soft tire because during my attempt I found myself in Perez's traffic.”

On track limits he added: “Tonight we will analyze the situation with the other riders, but during free practice we always tend to go beyond the limits. In qualifying we know that we cannot exploit the track beyond the white line and for this reason we pay more attention. I don't think it will be a big problem for tomorrow."

“The pace on the soft tire seems ok, which is why we are optimistic for qualifying. We'll see if we can sit in a different place during the press conference tomorrow." he concluded.