Max Verstappen is looking forward to this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, and would be targeting a return to the top step of the podium following his Miami Grand Prix struggle.
And while the word "struggle" could be an exaggeration for Verstappen and Red Bull's weekend in Miami, but they could not really get on top of the RB20's handling with Lando Norris and McLaren making good use of that - along with a Safety Car - meaning the Briton denied the Dutchman a race win.
Things should be more interesting this weekend, as in addition to a McLaren on form, Ferrari are bringing a major upgrade package to their SF-24, but Verstappen revealed Red Bull have been hard at work in preparation for Imola.
In Red Bull Racing's race preview, the reigning Formula 1 Champion said: "Imola is always an iconic track to race at and we are excited to be back again after it was cancelled last year.
"We have had some great Team results here and it is always interesting to race at a really old school track like this, as it is very technical, with some complex combinations of corners and braking zones.
"The Team in Milton Keynes and trackside have all been working really hard and I have been back at the factory this week working on the sim.
"It's nice to be back racing in Europe again too, so we are looking forward to seeing what the weekend brings," Verstappen concluded.
Emilia Romagna can throw challenging weather conditions
Sergio Perez, on the other hand, is hoping for a dry weekend as opposed to the flood causing rain that hit Emilia Romagna in 2023, cancelling that year's race.
"It's nice to be back in Europe and particularly, Imola, after we missed this race last season," the Mexican said. "This location can throw challenging conditions at you when it comes to weather, that always makes things tricky, it can limit our time on track during practice and affect qualifying massively.
"Hopefully we get a dry weekend, the forecast looks promising at the moment for Friday and Saturday, being solid across those days should put us in a great position for Sunday.
"I have been at the factory this week," he added, "looking at how we can maximise set-up and improve on the performance in Miami. It's about us making the right decisions across the weekend as a Team and we are working together to get back on the podium in Italy.
"This weekend, as a grid we will honour Ayrton Senna and it was important for me to be part of this by wearing the Forever Senna balaclava in his iconic yellow.
"He was an inspiration to us all growing up and was the reason many of us got into a kart and ended up here today," Perez concluded, giving tribute to the late triple F1 Champion.
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