Verstappen encouraged by Red Bull experiments after 'aggressive' practice

Max Verstappen has declared himself encouraged after Red Bull's Friday at the Italian Grand Prix, although he felt the track was "aggressive."

Monza has been resurfaced ahead of the 2024 race, with some of the kerbs also removed with Verstappen topping FP1 on Friday morning. 

In the second session, he was only 13th after failing to set a time on the soft tyres during the qualifying runs after aborting following a mistake entering the Parabolica. 

The Dutchman was keen to experiment with the car in practice after Red Bull's drubbing at Zandvoort by McLaren last time out - and heads into qualifying gently encouraged by the RB20.

"We tried quite a few things today, and FP2 was not that great, but the long run was a little bit more competitive," Verstappen explained. 

"But it seems quite aggressive on the tyres at the moment, they are opening up and it is quite interesting how that will evolve for the race.

"We have some good directions for the car, but just need to tidy it up a bit and then I think it will be quite close between a lot of cars, and hopefully we can be in that mix."

Verstappen holds a 70-point championship lead over Lando Norris, with the RB20 not as easy to set-up as its predecessor, with the team chasing multiple paths for set-up.

"You are chasing a few paths because there is not a clear path for this car," Verstappen said. 

"Trying different directions, but at the end of the day, that is what practice is for and also for things that we might want to learn about the car.

"That is why we were doing it.

"FP1 felt quite decent, FP2 maybe not as much in the beginning, but then it felt better in the long run, so we just need to be able to bring it together to be in the mix."