Verstappen fastest in testing after race win

BARCELONA: Max Verstappen set the fastest time in testing here on Wednesday, three days after he became Formula One’s youngest race winner on his Red Bull debut.

The 18-year-old Dutch driver completed 118 trouble-free laps of the Circuit de Catalunya and ended the day 0.739 seconds faster than McLaren’s Belgian reserve Stoffel Vandoorne.

“It was good to get back in the car today,” said Verstappen, who won in Spain little more than a week after being promoted from the energy drink company’s junior team Toro Rosso in a swap with Russian Daniil Kvyat.

“The car is good to drive, very enjoyable and we achieved very good mileage. We didn’t have any problems and could run the whole day,” he added.

“For me personally it was good to have the opportunity to get even more comfortable with the car. I was able to try some new things and find ways to improve my performance. I learned a lot about the RB12 today, which is very, very positive.”

Verstappen had not driven the Red Bull before last Friday’s first practice.

His sensational win came after Mercedes team-mates Lewis Hamilton, the triple world champion, and current leader Nico Rosberg collided on the opening lap and retired.

Red Bull’s head of race engineering Guillaume ‘Rocky’ Rocquelin said in a statement that much of the day focused on Verstappen getting to know his crew, as well as doing some aerodynamics work,” he added.