Max Verstappen has revealed he was at Mugello in recent weeks driving a GT car in order to learn the circuit and gain a “head start” on his rivals.
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted F1 to re-think its calendar, which resulted in a handful of new and returning circuits featuring on the revised schedule.
This weekend, Mugello hosts its first ever World Championship round in the form of the Tuscan Grand Prix, which is set to physically challenge the drivers.
Although F1 simulators are advanced enough to give the drivers a sense of a track’s characteristics, Verstappen says he wanted to gain some on-track mileage before his competition.
“I came here a few weeks ago to drive, because I have not been here before,” the Red Bull driver said.
“I think that is the best way to learn a track. I mean you can drive it on the simulator, but I haven’t done that.
“Of course, the car is a bit slower but it’s still fun. Yeah, that is important, it gives you a little bit of a head start.”
Verstappen asserts that he has no current plans to take part in test days at any other upcoming circuits as he has “driven all the other tracks except Istanbul”.
Red Bull arrives at Mugello following a difficult weekend last time out at Monza, where it failed to grab a top-four position in qualifying and scored zero points in the race.
Verstappen says he expects this weekend will be better than its last outing, predicting it will find itself back behind Championship leaders Mercedes.
“I definitely think it can’t be any worse than Monza,” he said. “It will be better, and I think we should be back in a decent place behind Mercedes.
“It’s a new track of course, so we first have to see how the car is set up. For sure we’ll have to make a few changes to that. But overall I’m quite confident that we can have a positive weekend.”
