Verstappen: “This is not a race circuit”

Max Verstappen, who finished in second place in both the first and second free practice sessions, was brutally honest with F1-expert Olav Mol regarding his opinion of the extremely short, track this weekend. 

In tonight's episode of the Formula 1 Café, Verstappen vented his frustration about Sakhir's Outer Ring Dutch to Formula 1 house expert Olav Mol. Verstappen: "I don't like it at all. This is not a race circuit for me. It's so short, and the corners in it don't make any sense at all."

The Dutchman spent both sessions looking for the perfect set-up for his Red Bull, and was suffering from understeer and bumps on the asphalt. When asked about the intensity of this, compared to the race in Sakhir last weekend, Verstappen said: "It's nothing at all.” 

Dangerous

In addition to the frustration about the circuit itself, Max also had a few things to say about safety in Sakhir: "It's just dangerous. You're communicating more with your engineer like, ‘Oh, there's going to be another car, here a car, there.’ And then all the blind turns, it's dangerous, and for what? It feels like they want to turn it into an entertainment show, to make it all a bit more exciting." And without success, Max says: "The fastest car will win anyway."