Verstappen plays down Red Bull 'hiccup' at testing

Max Verstappen has insisted that he is not concerned about a lack of driving time in the new RB14 vehicle last week at testing in Barcelona due to the weather conditions, and played down his run over the gravel trap as just a small 'hiccup' for the team.

Testing in preparation for the upcoming 2018 F1 season commenced last week at the Circuit de Catalunya, but time on the track was limited due to heavy snow.

Red Bull eventually made it out, but Verstappen suffered a mechanical issue before beaching his new car, leading to an early trip back to the garage. The Dutchman has lamented the weather conditions, but insisted the ride over the gravel was not a big deal.

"I had a little moment," Verstappen confessed.

"I went into the gravel, I wanted to reverse, but I got stuck.

"We didn't want to run because when it was that wet it didn't really make sense for us. Then when the track was drying out a bit of course you went out on the intermediates, and everything seemed to work quite well. And then we did our program, just checking the car on the slick tires initially, just some short runs. Then actually when we wanted to go for some longer runs we had a little hiccup.

"We had a leak, so we were just checking the whole car, and everything was alright after that. It took a bit longer than expected, but once we went out again I had a little moment in Turn 12, and then reversing something happened with the gearbox, we still need to investigate. But these things happen, and anyway the conditions this week were not great, so hopefully next week will be a bit more sunny."

Verstappen was probed by the media as to whether the incident at Turn 12 left him worried about the capabilities of the new RB14, but he insisted that he has full trust in the car.

"No question-marks. We had some little hiccups, but that can happen," the Red Bull star continued.

"You don't want it to happen, but sometimes it can. Anyway the conditions the whole week actually have not been great. I hope next week will be a bit more sunny.

"[We were] checking a lot of things, the data, comparing it to the wind tunnel, and sometimes you need to really work on that was well, especially when the conditions are like this. I am alright, and I am positive."