P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Max Verstappen isn’t concerned after failing to top either of the two Thursday practice sessions for the Bahrain Grand Prix
In the opening session of the day, Daniel Ricciardo of RB surprisingly finished in P1, with Verstappen coming in sixth, trailing by 0.369s. In the more representative nighttime set second practice, Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2, with a clear 0.477s advantage over Verstappen. The reigning champion acknowledged Red Bull’s need to address some setup issues overnight and speculated that rivals may have increased their power output ahead of Friday’s crucial qualifying session. Verstappen expressed the importance of focusing on finding the right balance for the car and optimizing performance on the challenging Bahrain circuit. He believes Red Bull is not far from discovering the optimal setup and is balancing expectations for a close qualifying session and race readiness. Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s teammate, prioritized fine-tuning the mechanical balance of the RB20 for long race runs, emphasizing the competitiveness expected in the upcoming qualifying session. Perez noted the closeness of competition, especially with Mercedes showing strong form and predicting a tight battle for the grid positions.
