Verstappen unconcerned about rain after topping both practices

Max Verstappen felt unthreatened by the possibility of rain during Saturday’s qualifying after topping both of Friday’s practice sessions at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman topped FP1 for the first time since the opening race in Bahrain before repeating the feat in the second session of the day.

With Charles Leclerc receiving a 10-place grid penalty, and a possibility of more, Verstappen’s early pace is a promising sign for his title credentials.

One issue that could arise is the weather with a deluge of rain hitting the track shortly after the conclusion of FP2, which is expected to continue until qualifying. Verstappen though was unfazed and remarked that the conditions would be the same for everyone.

“It’s the same for everyone so we just deal with it,” he told Sky Sports F1. “It’s good to see that for the Sunday we have a competitive car, whatever happens tomorrow we’ll see.”

A strong start to the weekend. Happy with the performance today, let’s keep this going @redbullracing

Canada, it’s good to be back #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/zLbBJepXuc

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) June 17, 2022

Having topped both sessions, Verstappen was pleased with his efforts and described it as a “positive day.”

“I think immediately the car was working quite well, of course there are always things you’re looking at to try and find a bit more of a complete balance but I think overall today for me was was a good start to the weekend.

“The softest compound is always the hardest one to nail so I think definitely there is a bit more time in that but even then, you know we have a competitive car so that’s good.

“[The] long run was good. It’s still hard on tyres around here as well brakes so there’s still a few things to improve but