Verstappen skips soft tyres in Malaysia FP2 and urges caution over Red Bull's progress

Max Verstappen finished fourth in FP2 at Sepang International Circuit on Friday, 0.257 seconds behind pace-setter Charles Leclerc, after deliberately skipping the soft-tyre qualifying simulation that most of his rivals completed. The four-time world champion had topped FP1 by nearly four tenths over George Russell, but opted for a different strategy in the second session.

Verstappen confirmed the decision was premeditated, citing the threat of rain. “I wanted to do a long run in case there was some rain coming in,” he said. The session stayed dry throughout, with Leclerc clocking a fastest lap of 1:37.528 on softs and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar slotting into second at 1:37.627. Verstappen’s 1:37.785 came entirely on the medium compound, leaving open the question of where he might have featured on a soft-tyre run.

The priority for Verstappen was understanding tyre degradation over a longer stint on Sepang’s sun-baked asphalt. With the FIA issuing a heat hazard warning due to high temperatures and humidity, managing tyre wear across the race weekend is expected to be a central theme in Malaysia.

“I think we had a decent start, but it’s tricky — the track is really hot, a lot of degradation, so a lot of things to figure out, but it’s been positive,” Verstappen said.

Despite the encouraging headline numbers from both sessions, Verstappen was careful to temper expectations when asked whether Red Bull had made genuine progress. “It is difficult,” he admitted. “It was warmer again in FP2, different programs, so hard to say progress, but there’s still a lot of things to look at to try and understand better.”

The caution is notable given Red Bull’s inconsistent form this season. A strong Friday at Sepang has raised hopes among fans of a repeat of Verstappen’s 2017 victory at this circuit, but the Dutchman himself is clearly unwilling to draw firm conclusions from practice data gathered under such variable conditions.