Verstappen surprised by Sainz: "I don't understand what he was doing there"

Max Verstappen had a positive first free practice. The driver drove the fastest time without any problems and gave his team a good feeling about the qualification. However, not everything was positive for Verstappen, as was heard on the board radio.

The driver felt the track was too crowded during the session. Verstappen tried to improve his lap time in the second half of the session but was hampered by Carlos Sainz.

The Ferrari driver was clearly not going to give way to Verstappen, forcing the reigning world champion to hold back. It came at the cost of his lap time. "That was way too close. I don't understand what he was doing there," Verstappen said on the board radio.

It was not the only moment Verstappen was bothered by other drivers, as he was also critical of Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin. He will therefore hope that in a few hours time when qualifying for the sprint race is on the programme, he will encounter fewer drivers on the track.