Verstappen resigned to third at best in Abu Dhabi

Max Verstappen has resigned himself to again being the best of the rest when an intense Formula 1 season draws to a close in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Red Bull driver Verstappen finished third in the second practice session, 0.770 seconds behind pace-setter Valterri Bottas and more than half a second behind second-placed Lewis Hamilton, who returned after contracting Covid-19.

Asked if Mercedes is ‘too out of touch’, referring to his comment from last weekend where he said the third-place chair is his to keep, Verstappen despondently replied: “I do, yeah. I’m going to claim my seat again.”

Prior to his admission, the Dutch driver had said his day had been “okay”, adding: “[We have] a little bit of work to do to close the gap to Mercedes. They seem very strong again even though I didn’t really get a lap in on the softer compound.”

Several drivers, including Verstappen, were seen to go outside the track limits during the session, a continuing trend that has been the subject of many driver discussions this season.

But Verstappen does not think it will be an issue later in the weekend. He said: “It’s Friday practice so you know in qualifying you can’t go there so you’ll pay a bit more attention.

“We’ll see what the other drivers say in the briefing but at the end of the day we’ll be fine, just exploring the limits and getting an understanding of how far you can go with the car.”

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