Max opens Suzuka weekend with P6
Published on 06 October 2017 by Stefan Meens
Max Verstappen started his Japanese Grand Prix weekend with a sixth place in the opening practice session. The Dutchman clocked 26 laps on the Suzuka circuit. A Carlos Sainz crash prevented Max from bettering his 1:30.7 set early on in practice. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) was quickest, followed by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Despite the grey clouds over the circuit, FP1 is off to a dry start. Max is keen to get going and opens his lap tally with a nine lap stint on the super-soft Pirelli tyres. His quickest lap is a 1:30.762. Unfortunately for Max, he is unable to beat this time in the remainder of the session.
His first attempt strands at the exit of Spoon corner, where the youngster goes a bit too wide and has to re-route through the gravel traps. On his next run on the super-softs, Max again fails to set a competitive lap. This time, a red flag caused by Carlos Sainz, is the cause. The Spaniard crashed hard at the exit of the hairpin.
After the Toro Rosso is cleared, there are still 23 minutes to go. Max heads out to do long runs, meaning he is not focused on bettering his fastest time. The arrival of light rain completely rules out quicker lap times.
Five minutes before the end, the rain intensifies and all drivers decide to call it a day, leaving Vettel, Hamilton and Ricciardo to lead the timing sheets.
Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka - Friday 6 October
FREE PRACTICE 1 RESULTS 01 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:29.166 23 02 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.377 +0.211s 29 03 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:29.541 +0.375s 27 04 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:29.638 +0.472s 22 05 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:30.151 +0.985s 30 06 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:30.762 +1.596s 26 07 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1:30.899 +1.733s 22 08 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:30.974 +1.808s 24 09 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:31.032 +1.866s 22 10 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1:31.202 +2.036s 24 11 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:31.216 +2.050s 15 12 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:31.235 +2.069s 19 13 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:31.530 +2.364s 23 14 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:31.602 +2.436s 22 15 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:31.757 +2.591s 22 16 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:31.912 +2.746s 20 17 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:32.252 +3.086s 14 18 10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:32.501 +3.335s 18 19 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1:32.897 +3.731s 29 20 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:33.397 +4.231s 28
