Max Verstappen ends F1 practice early in Brazil

Max Verstappen ends F1 practice early

Max Verstappen finished Friday's Formula 1 practice sessions in Sao Paulo in third place.

Red Bull strategy head explains early exit

Red Bull's head of race strategy Hannah Schmitz said there were too many inconsistencies in the long-run data.

Verstappen's radio exchange with engineer

Verstappen joked about not understanding a message from his race engineer about the power unit and gearbox.

“What does that mean? I have to speak to the engine myself? I think I should be like 'oh, clutch, I’m switching! You’ll be punished otherwise!'”

Red Bull ends practice early

Verstappen ended the second practice session early with just over six minutes remaining on the clock.

Schmitz explains car data issues

Schmitz said they didn't feel like it was helpful anymore to stay out longer for more data.

“So it was just [because of] finding a lot of inconsistencies in the long run and we didn't feel like it was helpful anymore.”

Red Bull's grid start challenge

Red Bull's starts have not been good this year, but Verstappen gave up grid start opportunity by ending practice early.

Schmitz on car potential

Schmitz said there's plenty of potential in the car for this weekend despite overnight changes needed.

“I think everyone agrees that there's a lot of potential within the car, but with both drivers there are things that they want to look into and change overnight.”

Weather impact on strategy

Schmitz warned that changing temperatures and rain could affect how the data translates to Sunday's race.

“Today, obviously the conditions are quite different to what's forecast for Sunday, so now we have to look at how we think that's going to translate to what happens on Sunday.”