After winning in Barcelona last weekend and becoming the youngest driver ever to do so in Formula 1 history, 18-year old Max Verstappen stuck around to post the fastest time during testing on day 3.
After such a sizzling-hot debut, fans everywhere are looking at Verstappen to become the next Sebastian Vettel at the very least, with team principal Christian Horner even going on record saying there are “uncanny” similarities between the two.
The 18-year old lapped the Catalunya circuit in just 1 m 23.267s on soft tires during this morning’s session (also the last in Spain), which in turn reflected quite positively on Renault’s upgraded engine.
There were other young drivers that stood out during testing, such as Stoffel Vandoorne who was second-fastest (1:24.006) or Pascal Wehrlein (1:24.145) who was called up to Mercedes for this session – though all eyes (fans & media) had been on Verstappen ever since his record-breaking performance last weekend.
Daniil Kvyat, the man who was sent down to Toro Rosso so that Verstappen could get his chance with a faster car, lapped the track in 1:24.737 and totaled 116 laps in a car he hopes to get to know better.
“It was quite an important day for myself today, as being able to get time in the STR11 was essential, and I now feel much more confident and ready for Monaco,” said the Russian.
Next up on the F1 calendar is the Monaco Grand Prix on May 29th.