Verstappen positive and Russell wary after first day of running at 'tricky' Sepang

[p]His decision resulted in him finishing fourth fastest behind Ferrari's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Charles Leclerc[/a] and his Red Bull teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hadjar-isack/8SAk38Ui/"]Isack Hadjar[/a], but he gained valuable data and insight into conditions that were close to those expected for Sunday's race.[/p][p][b]"I think we had a decent start, but it's tricky," [/b]said the four-time world champion, who won the last Formula 1 race at the Sepang International Circuit in 2017 and topped the times on softs in opening practice.[/p][p][b]"The track is really hot. A lot of degradation, so a lot of things to figure out, but it's been positive.[/b][/p][p][b]"I wanted to do a long run in case there was some rain coming in. It's hard to know if we made progress, but there are a lot of things to try and to understand."[/b][/p][p]The abrasive conditions on the low-grip circuit in sweltering conditions - with a track temperature of more than 60C - have led to forecasts of a three-stop race on Sunday.[/p][embed guid="c3c5a923-fb93-45fe-a08b-5ab88da1834c" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2105925500623536602?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]McLaren's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Oscar Piastri[/a], who was sixth, said he had been impressed by Red Bull's opening day pace.[/p][p][b]"It looks pretty close amongst the top four teams,"[/b] he said.[/p][p][b]"I think Red Bull have looked very strong through the day. Mercedes as well have looked strong at points, and obviously Ferrari were pretty good.[/b][/p][p][b]"Everyone’s kind of had their turn being reasonably competitive. I think we’re maybe a tiny step behind, but we made a lot of progress from FP1.[/b][/p][p][b]"Hopefully, we can keep that trend going - and we’ll see where we end up."[/b][/p][p]On a relatively inconclusive day, with teams diverging on planned run programmes, Mercedes' [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]George Russell[/a] and championship leader [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a] were seventh and eighth in their heavily updated cars.[/p][p][b]"I think at the moment that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Verstappen[/a] is looking the quickest in a single lap and McLaren are looking quickest on the long runs," [/b]said Russell.[/p][p]He added that it was difficult to judge the success of Mercedes upgrades to the floor, sidepods and rear suspension.[/p][p][b]"When you bring an upgrade to any circuit, it’s difficult to know what your pure performance is and what it isn't," [/b]he said.[/p][p][b]"If we had our new car last week, we would have said things were absolutely incredible, but if we had our old version today, I don’t think it would have been much different."[/b][/p]