Verstappen: We just need to find a bit more grip

At the end of day one of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Verstappen was asked to assess his chances for the remainder of the weekend, to which he replied, "In qualifying, realistically fifth and sixth, but in the race, you never know what is going to happen. The long-run pace was not too bad, so I’m actually quite happy with that. We just need to find a bit more grip."

The quest to squeeze maximum straight-line speed from the RB14 by reducing the grip available to drivers through setup as Verstappen explained, "It’s always going to be difficult when you have such low downforce on the car, but it was not too bad. For sure, we still have some room to improve."

"The last sector, we seemed pretty quick, but with the rear wing we have on the car, you expect to be like that. It’s just not easy to be in the second sector where you lose a lot of rear downforce and you're sliding around a bit more. We’re still trying to optimise that."

At the same time the Dutchman conceded, "It is always difficult to judge how you compare after day one as not everyone is pushing 100%."

Last year Verstappen retired from the race at Spa after only seven laps to the disappointment of his orange clad fans that packed the grandstands.

This year they are back for more, with early brigades of the orange army already in evidence, which did not escape Verstappen, "Already the orange flares have been lit which is great to see, it’s nice to see so many fans out here supporting me on a Friday"