Verstappen backs Abu Dhabi GP sausage kerbs

Max Verstappen wants the Turn 20 sausage kerbs to stay in place at the Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix despite being caught out by them during FP2 which damaged his Red Bull.

The Dutch driver drifted wide on to the large kerbs midway through the second practice session and got his car wedged on top with his bargeboard. The incident saw Verstappen go off track at high speed but avoided the barriers to return to the pits with floor damage.

After a quick repair job by his Red Bull crew Verstappen returned to action to take second place in the FP2 times with a fastest lap of 1m 37.260s, 0.044s slower than timesheet-topper Valtteri Bottas, to demonstrate his strong end to the 2018 season.

Despite finding the limits with the sausage kerb at the penultimate corner, Verstappen feels the kerbs are safe and important to stop drivers abusing track limits.

“I understand why it is there, and honestly, I think it is not so bad because otherwise you start playing with the limits. I went a little bit over it,” Verstappen said.

“Last year you could also lean on it a little bit. Now it is a bit higher. I don’t expect it to be a big problem in the race because you don’t want to go that wide.”

Reflecting on his Red Bull’s pace in practice, Verstappen was content and able to attack in the tight and twisty final sector.

“It was good. Straight away from the first run I had little complaints. The car, definitely in the last sector, most of the comers on the track, is working really well. So really happy with that,” he said.