Max fastest in Baku FP1 & FP2: "A very positive day"
Published on 23 June 2017 by Stefan Meens
After being the fastest in FP1, Max Verstappen was once again fastest in the second free practice session of the Azerbeidjan Grand Prix. The Dutchman’s 1:43.362 was the quickest lap of the Baku Street circuit. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and Max’s Red Bull Racing team mate Daniel Ricciardo completed the top three.
The second Friday session was marked by many yellow flags and ultimately a red flag. The latter was caused by Max after he hit the barrier in the closing stages. “To be honest, it was really weird. I missed my braking point but I still tried to make the corner. I tried to play it safe by taking the run-off area but suddenly I lost the rear and went into the wall”, explains Max after his crash. “There is damage but we have enough spare parts so it won’t influence the race so all is OK.”
Despite the crash, Max’s confidence is still intact. “This happened to me before and I always aim to be quicker after a crash.”. Ahead of the race, Max is optimistic. “We’ve definitely improved. The race preparation went well and we have a small engine upgrade, which is useful on the long straights. Our progress is a little bit unexpected because we didn’t change much. But the car felt good from the first lap. It gives you a lot of confidence, which is really helpful on a street circuit.”
Max is confident there is more to gain: “I wasn’t able to extract the most out of the car due to yellow flags and traffic so we can be pretty happy with today. But we have to wait and see. Mercedes always ramp up the pace in qualifying and Ferrari will improve tomorrow. For us, we need to try to hold to this.”
Similar to FP1, the second practice session sees a lot of drivers miss corners due to the tight nature of turns. At the midway point, Jolyon Palmer causes the first of two red flags in FP2. The Renault driver, like Sergio Perez in the first Friday session, loses the car going into turn 8. When the session gets underway again, it is McLaren’s time to have an issue again with Fernando Alonso’s car breaking down.
The final half an hour is used by most teams for long-runs, focusing on race pace. The Dutchman sets about a stint with consistent lap times, all in the high 1:46s. On his final lap, Max outbrakes himself into turn one. He loses the rear of his RB13 and slides into the tech-pro barrier. Fortunately, he is unharmed, but his mechanics will have a busy evening.
Azerbeidjan Grand Prix - Baku - Friday 23 June 2017
FREE PRACTiCE SESSION 2 RESULTS 01 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:43.362 36 02 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:43.462 +0.100s 32 03 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:43.473 +0.111s 34 04 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:43.489 +0.127s 35 05 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:43.615 +0.253s 35 06 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:44.113 +0.751s 27 07 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:44.306 +0.944s 34 08 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:44.321 +0.959s 27 09 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1:44.484 +1.122s 37 10 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:44.525 +1.163s 23 11 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:44.609 +1.247s 33 12 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:45.515 +2.153s 15 13 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:45.733 +2.371s 34 14 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:45.831 +2.469s 33 15 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:46.003 +2.641s 29 16 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:46.061 +2.699s 17 17 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1:46.174 +2.812s 28 18 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1:47.150 +3.788s 25 19 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:47.347 +3.985s 25 20 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:47.722 +4.360s 22
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