Max Verstappen unhappy following messy Friday at Monza

Red Bull Racing

Verstappen unhappy following messy Friday at Monza

Verstappen crashed in FP1 and struggled for balance throughout

Nicolas Quarles van Ufford

Friday 4 September 2020 17:16 Updated: 18:06

Max Verstappen was left unhappy with the behaviour of his Red Bull at Monza following Friday's running during which he crashed in FP1.

The 22-year-old finished both practice sessions fifth quickest behind Mercedes one-twos as Valtteri Bottas topped the FP1 timesheet before Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the afternoon.

In the morning run, Verstappen clipped the inside kerb at the Ascari chicane and span out into a barrier, losing his front wing.

Afterwards, Verstappen conceded he was not comfortable with how the RB16 felt.

"The team fixed my car quickly during FP1 and I didn’t have any effects from that in FP2 so there are no concerns there," said Verstappen.

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"But not a good day. I'm struggling with balance and grip in general, so quite a bit of work to do. It wasn't the best start to a weekend."

A lack of balance can also affect tyre wear which in turn leads to it being more difficult to steer smoothly into corners.

Verstappen, however, is not overly worried by tyre wear during the race as he trusts Red Bull will by then have solved the problems with balance and grip.

"That [tyre wear] is not great," added Verstappen. "First, we just have to solve our grip issues, and then normally if we have quite a balanced car then we know the tyre wear should be okay."

Verstappen was one of a number of drivers, alongside team-mate Alex Albon, who had a lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at the Parabolica, with the FIA clamping down hard.

The Dutch driver said: "[I was] Just trying to find the limits, and sometimes when you see I'm having a moment you just let it run wide. In practice, it doesn't really matter."

Albon's time would have been good enough to have placed him 10th in FP2. Assessing what could unfold in qualifying, Albon said: "It's tricky.

"What you get is a lot of people backing up into you in the last corner, so you get their dirty air when they start a lap, and you're struggling in the last corner to stay tight because they're obviously making a gap to start their lap.

"I think when qualifying starts it might be a bit easier, just because everyone is pushing at the same time."

Before you go...

Hamilton turns Friday tables on Bottas again, Ferrari show slight improvement