Max Verstappen explains FP2 decision as he sends cautious Red Bull message to fans

Max Verstappen explained why he skipped a soft-tyre run in Malaysia FP2 before playing down Red Bull’s apparent progress after a strong Friday at Sepang

Formula 1's return to Sepang International Circuit saw Max Verstappen topping Friday's FP1, and that was enough to get fans buzzing about a repeat of his 2017 win at this track. Then FP2 ended, and the Dutchman finished fourth on the timesheets. Obvious practice caveats apply, but let's jump into what the four-time champion thought of his performance today.

Why no soft tyre stint?

Verstappen spent the entirety of FP2 on the medium compound. Every other driver at the top of the time sheet, including Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Verstappen's team-mate Isack Hadjar, put down a qualifying simulation with the soft compound. The four-time champion confirmed this was planned.

"I wanted to do a long run in case there was some rain coming in," he said.

The rain didn't come in the end. FP2 was bone dry start to finish. Leclerc ended up fastest at 1:37.528 on softs, with Hadjar second for Red Bull at 1:37.627 and Verstappen fourth at 1:37.785 on the harder tyre, 0.257 seconds off the pace. Given that Verstappen had been quicker than his teammate all day and had topped FP1 by nearly four tenths over Mercedes' George Russell, it's possible that Verstappen could have topped this, too.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Red Bull progress is unclear

A long run on Sepang's old and sun-baked asphalt was important to understand tyre degradation and how it could affect the race weekend. With the FIA declaring a heat hazard due to high temperatures and humidity, degradation will be a big talking point over the Malaysian campaign.

"I think we had a decent start, but it's tricky, the track is really hot, a lot of degradation, so a lot of things to figure out, but it's been positive," Verstappen said.

Asked whether Red Bull was actually making progress over what looked like two successful sessions, Verstappen was keen to calm the high expectations that stemmed from the earlier run.

"I mean, progress, it is difficult," he admitted. "It was warmer again in FP2, different programs, so hard to say progress, but there's still a lot of things to look at to try and understand better," he said.