FEBRUARY 7, 2018

Verstappen to get early feel for 2018 car

Max Verstappen thinks he will get an idea about his chances of fighting for the title in 2018 after the very first day of testing later this month.

Mercedes and Ferrari duelled for the world championship last year, but Red Bull is tipped to join the party in 2018.

Verstappen said: "Normally you get an impression (of the car) at the very beginning of the year, but this is not the goal.

"The most important thing is to get reliability in testing so you can determine the driving characteristics of the new car," the Dutchman is quoted by Italy's Corriere dello Sport.

"But you can understand if a car is good or not already in the first day of testing," Verstappen added.

He also said he is heading into 2018 - his fourth season on the grid - feeling "more relaxed" than before.

"I'm a little more relaxed than my first seasons in formula one, because now I know what awaits me. But physically it's difficult, so I still have to train very well."

(GMM)