Max P8 in final practice: "Good pace on intermediates"
Published on 15 July 2017 by Stefan Meens
Max Verstappen finished the final free practice session of the British Grand Prix in eighth. Lewis Hamilton was fastest in his Mercedes in front of his home crowd ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The Silver Arrow of Valtteri Bottas occupied third.
“Prior to FP3, we tried something different with the set-up and it didn’t go as we’d hoped. So we returned to Friday’s set-up but we couldn’t use it because it began to rain”, explained Max to Verstappen.nl. “The pace was good on intermediates but qualifying will probably dry. So we have to wait and see.”
Ahead of the session, the FIA announces that both Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo will serve five-place grid penalties due to a gear box change.
At the start of FP3, a few drops of rain have descended on Northamptonshire, but not enough to warrant wet weather tyres. Most drivers are on the soft and super-soft Pirellis in the first half of the session with the Mercedes and Ferraris setting the pace and occupying the top four.
Max has only completed five laps by the half way mark and with twenty minutes left on the clock, he finally heads back out on track. Unfortunately is he is unable to improve his lap times with the arrival of rain. A few turns into his fast run, the Dutchman goes wide. The team tells him “there’s a yellow flag in turn 7” to which Max laughs “it’s because of me”.
The rain means most drivers return to the pits and stay there until the end of the session. Exceptions include McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne and Max. Both head out on intermediates to get a feel for a wet Silverstone.
Max’ team mate Daniel Ricciardo and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson struggle in the rain with the Red Bull Racer nearly ending in the wall and the Swede taking a trip to the gravel after spinning.
British Grand Prix - Silverstone - Saturday 15 July
01 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:28.063 18 02 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:28.095 +0.032s 14 03 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:28.137 +0.074s 20 04 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:28.732 +0.669s 15 05 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:29.480 +1.417s 14 06 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:29.612 +1.549s 15 07 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:29.819 +1.756s 14 08 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:29.904 +1.841s 13 09 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:29.959 +1.896s 19 10 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1:30.088 +2.025s 19 11 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:30.138 +2.075s 17 12 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1:30.172 +2.109s 19 13 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:30.270 +2.207s 15 14 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:30.302 +2.239s 16 15 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:30.416 +2.353s 16 16 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:30.504 +2.441s 20 17 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:30.515 +2.452s 19 18 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1:30.621 +2.558s 24 19 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:30.630 +2.567s 24 20 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:31.358 +3.295s 18
