{"id":3253,"date":"2026-10-02T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=3253"},"modified":"2026-10-02T09:13:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T12:13:23","slug":"verstappen-skips-soft-tyres-at-sepang-but-still-ends-friday-fastest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/verstappen-skips-soft-tyres-at-sepang-but-still-ends-friday-fastest\/","title":{"rendered":"Verstappen skips soft tyres at Sepang but still ends Friday fastest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Verstappen did not run soft tyres in FP2<\/strong>, finishing fourth with a lap on mediums.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>His FP1 benchmark remained Friday\u2019s fastest time, just 0.008s ahead of Charles Leclerc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Verstappen cautioned against judging progress between sessions<\/strong>, citing hotter conditions and a different programme.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Max Verstappen said Red Bull followed a different programme in Friday\u2019s second Formula 1 practice session at Sepang, where he finished fourth without using the soft tyre. The Dutchman retained the fastest lap of the day despite sitting behind Charles Leclerc, Isack Hadjar and Lando Norris in the afternoon classification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Verstappen\u2019s FP2 best of 1:37.785 came on medium tyres<\/strong>, leaving him 0.257s behind Leclerc. His morning lap of 1:37.520 nevertheless remained unbeaten across the two sessions, with the Ferrari driver finishing just eight thousandths slower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Verstappen cautions against comparing the sessions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking after Friday\u2019s running at Sepang, Verstappen described a reasonable opening day but highlighted the work still required to understand the car in demanding conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was warmer in FP2 than in FP1, and we were on a different program,\u201d Verstappen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The different programme makes his fourth place an incomplete measure of Red Bull\u2019s qualifying potential.<\/strong> It also means the morning and afternoon positions cannot establish, on their own, whether the team improved between sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verstappen highlighted the hot track and substantial tyre degradation as challenges. His assessment remained cautious, with further analysis and experimentation required before the rest of the weekend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-3-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"F1 2026, BAHREIN, MAL\u00c1SIA, TREINOS LIVRES, RED BULL RACING, MAX VERSTAPPEN\" class=\"wp-image-1020316634\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-3-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-3-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-3-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-3-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-3.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Max Verstappen (Photo: F1)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Medium-tyre running instead of a soft-tyre benchmark<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While several rivals completed their faster laps on soft tyres, Verstappen returned to the track on the mediums he had already used. His subsequent running focused on a longer sequence of laps rather than producing another qualifying benchmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Teammate Hadjar followed a different approach, recording a 1:37.627 to finish second in FP2. <strong>That left Red Bull with a front-running soft-tyre result from one car and medium-tyre running from the other.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leclerc ultimately led the session ahead of Hadjar and Norris, with Verstappen fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does that mean for qualifying?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Verstappen\u2019s Friday results do not establish how much faster he could have gone on soft tyres.<\/strong> The difference between compounds varies with conditions, preparation and the car, while fuel loads further complicate comparisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His FP1 performance ahead of George Russell and Hadjar\u2019s afternoon position offer encouraging signs for Red Bull. A representative qualifying attempt is still needed to establish where Verstappen stands against Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes over one lap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saturday\u2019s FP3 begins at 12:30 local time, followed by qualifying at 16:00. The team will have another practice session to refine its preparation before the grid-setting action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Formula 1 continues this weekend, from 2\u20134 October, in Malaysia, which hosts the Bahrain Grand Prix. <strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> will cover all the action at Sepang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">F1 today: FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What time is F1 qualifying at Sepang?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Qualifying starts on Saturday, 3 October, at 16:00 Malaysia time. That is 09:00 BST in the UK, 04:00 EDT in New York and Toronto, 01:00 PDT in Los Angeles and Vancouver, 13:30 IST in India and 18:00 AEST in Sydney. <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/what-time-is-f1-qualifying-at-sepang-saturday-fp3-and-qualifying-schedule\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"> <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Did Lewis Hamilton receive a grid penalty for the Bortoleto incident?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. Hamilton received a warning after impeding Gabriel Bortoleto during FP2 at Sepang. Ferrari was fined \u20ac10,000, but Hamilton will not lose grid positions over the incident. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skysports.com\/f1\/video\/13594263\/bahrain-gp-in-malaysia-lewis-hamilton-under-investigation-for-allegedly-impeding-gabriel-bortoleto?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"> <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why were F1 lap times at Sepang over four seconds slower than expected?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pirelli identified low grip, dust and an abrasive surface that increased tyre sliding and degradation. Friday\u2019s benchmark was more than four seconds slower than its qualifying simulation reference, rather than four seconds slower than the 2017 race weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why did Verstappen not use soft tyres in Sepang FP2?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verstappen said Red Bull followed a different programme in the afternoon. His running included a longer stint on used medium tyres rather than a soft-tyre qualifying benchmark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Red Bull driver finished fourth on mediums and retained Friday\u2019s fastest lap, but says heat and tyre degradation leave plenty to understand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020316562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Max Verstappen","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Red Bull Content Pool","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":58,"location":""}],"footnotes":"","42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[630,622,64,66],"42wp_author":[58],"class_list":["post-3253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-bahrain-grand-prix-in-malaysia","tag-f1-tyre-strategy","tag-max-verstappen","tag-red-bull","42wp_author-vicente-soella"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3254,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3253\/revisions\/3254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020316562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3253"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=3253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}