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Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen remains satisfied with his Thursday running in Monaco despite a water leak leaving the Dutchman in the garage for the majority of Practice 2.
The five-time grand prix winner reported that he incurred debris during his opening stint of the afternoon session, pushing his second run late into the hit-out.
“When everyone went onto a second set of tyres we had a water leak after some debris flew into the air box and damaged one of the radiators,” explained Verstappen, who was sixth-fastest in Practice 2, the faster session.
“We had to fix it which lost us some time on track but in general, we look alright and the pace was pretty good.”
Despite the shortage of afternoon laps, and a complaint about having “no grip at all” after a set-up change for his return to the track, the Dutchman remains pleased with the mileage he completed as whole.
“Today was ok and I’m pretty happy with the balance of the car,” he added.
“I got enough laps in to feel confident with the car, we tried lots of set-up changes in both sessions and I’m happy with what we have.
“Mercedes is still very strong and I don’t think we can fight them for pole, but there is a big gap between second and third which we should be able to fill in qualifying tomorrow.”
Alexander Albon was the star of the afternoon in the Red Bull junior team, finishing fifth fastest with a time of a 1:12.031s.
“It was a good day for us, it’s really fun out there and I like the track a lot,” said the Scuderia Toro Rosso driver after his first day of Formula 1 running in Monaco.
“I think we got the car in the right window, now we just need to study what we’ve learnt from today, so we can fine-tune the car and get ready for Saturday.
“We made a couple of adjustments for the afternoon session and I like how the car feels. We’re cautious that other teams will improve for Saturday but finishing in the top five is a nice feeling.”
The cars return to the track on Saturday when Practice 3 kicks off at 2000 AEST.
