Max starting Austrian GP from P5: “A bit disappointed”
Published on 08 July 2017 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen qualified sixth for the Austrian Grand Prix, but is starting the race from fifth as he has been promoted due to the grid penalty Lewis Hamilton has been given. The Dutchman had to deal with a yellow flag in his final flying lap but also spun off track himself. Before that, he clocked a 1:04.983. Good enough for sixth and only one tenth down on Red Bull Racing-team mate Daniel Ricciardo. Valtteri Bottas scored his second Formula 1-career pole. Sebastian Vettel will be next to the Fin on the first row. Lewis Hamilton qualified third but due to his penalty for a gear box change is starting from eighth.
In Q3, Verstappen did three runs, during which every time something happened: “In the first run I lost the rear in turn three,” Max explains himself after qualifying. “I lost a lot of time with that. In the second run, I hit the kerb stones in turn one, so that immediately took away two tenths from me. Then I won back some time, so there was enough to be won. In my final run, everything was good in the first corner. Turn three was also good, but then the yellow flag came out and DRS was disabled, so I lost two tenths on the straight. Then you try to make up for the lost time, because I knew it was doable and then I lost the rear because I was on the throttle too aggressively.”
Despite his spin, Max is starting the race from fifth, which offers many perspectives: “We’ll see how things pan out tomorrow. Today, it was a bit disappointing. I had rather been more to the front. That was possible in fact, hadn’t it been for the yellow flag. You lose two tenths, you’re down on your time and want to make up for the loss and then you spin off track. That is of course very disappointing, but on the other hand, I am in a reasonable position. I am not sure whether we can make it on the podium based only on raw speed. Ahead of us, something needs to happen then.” The predicted rain may offer a solution: “If there are changing weather conditions, that can benefit us. We cannot keep up with Ferrari and Mercedes on raw speed alone, but with a good strategy you never know.”
Prior to qualifying, rain is predicted. But when the first part of qualifying gets underway, the prediction fails to become reality and it remains dry. Verstappen is in his first flying lap on the ultra-softs and is third, with a 1:05.779.
After Kevin Magnussen’s first flying lap, his suspension breaks and the Dane is forced to retire his Haas in the pits. Verstappen doesn’t come back out on track for the remainder of Q1 and is safe for the second part of qualifying with his sixth fastest time. Drop outs in Q1 are: both Saubers, the Williams’-drivers and Renault running Jolyon Palmer.
In the second part of qualifying, Max does, for the first time this weekend, a lap under a minute five. With a 1:04.948 the Dutchman snatches P4. Lewis Hamilton goes for a different strategy and does his run on the super-soft compound tyre, which means that he will need to start the race tomorrow on those. All the other drivers, do their runs on the ultra-soft tyres. Daniil Kvyat, Stoffel Vandoorne, Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg are the slowest in Q2 and do not make it to the final part of qualifying.
In Q3, Max heads out on track as the great many Dutch fans cheer him on. The Dutchman clocks a 1:05.110. Which is good enough for the sixth fastest time on the leader board. Bottas, on the other hand, tops that board with a 1:04.251. Verstappen, in turn, does a fast lap again (1:04.983), but doesn’t improve his position. All the drivers head out for a last run in the closing stages. But then the yellow flag is out when Romain Grosjean comes to a standstill trackside in his Haas. At that moment, Max is busy with a fast lap, but spins in turn seven. He makes an off track excursion in the gravel trap, but is able to bring his car back to the pits without damages.
Nobody is able to better Bottas’ time, putting the Fin on pole for the race tomorrow. Vettel and Raikkonen are behind of him in second and third. Both Red Bull Racing-drivers Ricciardo and Verstappen take up positions fourth and fifth on the grid. Lewis Hamilton will start the race from eighth due to his gear box change.
Austrian Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring – Saturday 8 July
RESULTS QUALIFYING 01 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:05.760 1:04.316 1:04.251 18 02 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:05.585 1:04.772 1:04.293 17 03 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:05.064 1:04.800 1:04.424 17 *5 plekken gridstraf 04 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:05.148 1:05.004 1:04.779 17 05 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:05.854 1:05.161 1:04.896 22 06 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:05.779 1:04.948 1:04.983 16 07 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:05.902 1:05.319 1:05.480 30 08 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:05.975 1:05.435 1:05.605 21 09 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1:06.033 1:05.550 1:05.674 22 10 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:05.675 1:05.544 1:05.726 23 11 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:06.174 1:05.597 16 12 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:06.158 1:05.602 14 13 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1:06.316 1:05.741 14 14 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:05.990 1:05.884 16 15 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:06.143 6 16 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:06.345 10 17 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:06.534 8 18 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:06.608 11 19 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:06.857 12 20 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1:07.011 11
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