Montreal: Under-fire Dutchman Max Verstappen delivered a perfect riposte to his critics when he topped the times in both practice sessions for this weekend’s Formula One (F1) Canadian Grand Prix here Friday.
After a flawless showing to go fastest in the morning at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the 20-year-old Red Bull driver followed up with a similar run in the afternoon. It was the first time he had topped the times in any practice sessions this year.
“Yeah, that was a pretty good day for me, but I think Mercedes looked very fast in the longer runs,” he said in a brief post-session comment.
Verstappen clocked a best lap in one minute, 12.198 seconds to outpace nearest rival Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 champion, of Ferrari by 0.130 seconds in the second session. That left his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo down in third, four-tenths of a second adrift, ahead of championship leader and defending four-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
Sebastian Vettel, who trails Hamilton by 14 points in the title standings after six races, was fifth for Ferrari, seven-tenths off the pace ahead of Finn Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes.
Hamilton meanwhile, exuded confidence ahead of the main race Sunday. If he wins, he would be the first after the legendary Michael Schumacher to win here seven times.
Hamilton said he was looking forward to taking his car ‘for a spin’ on ‘hyper-soft’ tyres today.
“I believe that is what explains the gaps in the timesheets – it’s down to the different tyre choices today (Friday), but we will find out for sure on Saturday,” said the Briton.
Hamilton was quick to point out how confident he felt ahead of the race. “It’s been a beautiful day, the weather has been fantastic, the track feels better than ever and it’s such a fun track to drive. We don’t have any problems and I really enjoyed it,” Hamilton said.