“This is Max’s kind of circuit,” Christian Horner encouraged by early signs in Jeddah

“This is Max’s kind of circuit,” Christian Horner encouraged by early signs in Jeddah

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen had a pretty lowkey outing on Day One of the Saudi Arabian GP. The championship leader finished P2 in the first free practice session, and could manage to finish just P4 in the second session.

Max Verstappen leads the championship race by 8 points, as Lewis Hamilton is placed second. However, the Briton has fought back in the last two races of the season by claiming back to back wins in Brazil and Qatar.

Despite a poor outing in the first two sessions, Christian Horner believes that the circuit could very well favor Max Verstappen. He believes that the 24-year-old has enough speed in his car which could help him compete with Hamilton.

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“After the new test was introduced in Qatar, I think that we’ve seen convergence on speed. We’ve seen very similar speeds again here today, so that’s encouraging. Hopefully that will remain the case at this weekend and next weekend,” said Horner.

Max Verstappen enjoying his time in Jeddah: Horner

Christian Horner
Christian Horner

Christian Horner stated that although Max Verstappen finished P4 in the second free session, there was not much gap to separate Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen. Moreover, Horner claimed that the youngster is enjoying his time in Saudi Arabia and there were encouraging signs for Red Bull on Friday.

Max Verstappen could claim the world championship this weekend under four scenarios, after having an eight point lead. However, that looks unlikely, and most probably the championship will be decided by the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

“The circuit’s a little bit tighter than the data suggested, the corners are a little bit tighter. It’s not all the emphasis on horsepower that we thought it was going to be. So that’s encouraging,” said Max.

“You can see, there’s a tenth or two between the two cars, between the drivers. On this type of circuit, you can find that. That’s really encouraging for us. This is Max’s kind of circuit. It’s high speed, walls, kerbs. You could see he was,” he added.

Also Read: Saudi Arabia GP: Lewis Hamilton starts on the front foot, tops FP1 session ahead of Max Verstappen