Verstappen says Red Bull "very close" but unsure of Mercedes form

Verstappen went quickest from teammate Ricciardo in FP2, as Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton finished down in sixth and 13th places respectively.

The German squad's duo, however, did not use the supersoft tyres in the afternoon session.

Verstappen said Red Bull was "very close" to the top, but concedes Mercedes' form is likely to improve a lot by Saturday.

"For sure they will be very competitive," said Verstappen. "We will see what happens. We can definitely improve even more and we have to wait and see what they do. So far we have had a very good start.

"Definitely tonight we will analyse a lot of things and I am sure Mercedes will come back, they are very strong – but in the end it was a very positive day.

"I don't know where they are. We are very close – but we have to wait and see. They will be very competitive and some others teams are very competitive so we have to wait and see."

Ricciardo, meanwhile, expects Red Bull to be able to go quicker tomorrow.

"It was a pretty good day. Not bad – I think we are on the timesheets, both Red Bulls first and second, but Mercedes I don't think used the supersoft and Force India is quite close.

"I think we can still be quicker than what we showed today.

"I feel like we got into the right rhythm – no one is on holiday anymore, everyone is back in work mode, that is positive, I felt like the energy around the garage was good.

"I think we can improve the set-up tonight, there are some things we are not 100 percent happy with but it is nice to be back behind the wheel."

Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble

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