Max meets the wall in second free practice: "It will be ok"

Published on 31 October 2015 by Mike Motilall

In the first free practice, in his Scuderia Toro Rosso, he drove the fastest lap time. In the second free practice in Mexico, Max Verstappen ended up on the other side of things, when he met with the unforgiving wall on Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. This left the Dutchman without a time on the board.

Max tells Verstappen.nl: “At the start of the second free practice, the track was still somewhat damp and very slippery. I was getting my tyres up to temperature and was maybe not entirely focused. It was just my first flying lap, so I was not really flooring it, but suddenly the car broke out. Of course I am not happy with this.”

Still, Max remains positive; all the more after having finished the morning session as the fastest: “The first free practice went very well and there is no reason to believe that the second wouldn’t have been the same. I am quite happy with the car. How the grip from the tyres will change during the long runs is anyone’s guess. But I am not going to worry about that so much. It will be ok.”

At the beginning of the session, Max heads out, but while commencing with his first flying lap, things go south. When exiting the stadium part of the track, his rear of the STR10 breaks out, and he ends up sideways in the wall. First hitting the rear and then the front. Max gets out unscathed, but the Toro Rosso cannot be repaired in time to see some action in the hour-and-a-half lasting free practice.

After a code red for ten minutes, not much later we see Valtteri Bottas skate off track with high speed. Having spun in the first corner, the Fin finishes in the wall; having been lucky only to lose his front wing and damage the nose of his car. However, the Williams-driver is able to continue on.

With the threat of rain and some droplets, more and more drivers get into trouble. On the already slippery tarmac, everyone is desperately seeking for some grip. Thanks to the circuit being at a great height, all the equipment is also suffering from the thin air. Skating and spinning, one after the other driver makes his way through. Max, in the meantime in the Toro Rosso-pit box, is closely watching his team mate Carlos Sainz’ actions on track; who has, at the end of the session, done some 41 laps. The most, compared to everyone.

After half an hour, Lewis Hamilton is in the lead, but come mid-session, Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg has claimed that position. He remains there till the end of the second free practice, as in the final fifteen minutes, enough drops have fallen to call it a wet track. In the meantime, there is briefly a code red as Romain Grosjean’s Lotus has halted. Lap times fail to get improved and the Red Bull Racing-duo, Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo, lead the rest of the pack. Newly crowned world champion Lewis Hamilton, finishes in fourth, ahead of both Ferrari’s.

Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez  – Mexican Grand Prix – Friday 30 October 2015

 RESULTS SECOND FREE PRACTICE
 P  No Driver             Team          Time     Gap   Laps 
 1   6 Nico Rosberg       Mercedes      1:21.531         36 
 2  26 Daniil Kvyat       Red Bull      1:21.776 +0.245s 27 
 3   3 Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull      1:21.868 +0.337s 28 
 4  44 Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes      1:21.961 +0.430s 33 
 5   5 Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari       1:21.984 +0.453s 32 
 6   7 Kimi Räikkönen     Ferrari       1:22.399 +0.868s 33 
 7  77 Valtteri Bottas    Williams      1:22.721 +1.190s 28 
 8  14 Fernando Alonso    McLaren       1:22.993 +1.462s 36 
 9  22 Jenson Button      McLaren       1:23.109 +1.578s 25 
10  19 Felipe Massa       Williams      1:23.289 +1.758s 32 
11  27 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India   1:23.290 +1.759s 34 
12  13 Pastor Maldonado   Lotus         1:23.363 +1.832s 24 
13  55 Carlos Sainz       Toro Rosso    1:23.364 +1.833s 41 
14  12 Felipe Nasr        Sauber        1:23.430 +1.899s 39 
15  11 Sergio Perez       Force India   1:23.597 +2.066s 33 
16   8 Romain Grosjean    Lotus         1:23.614 +2.083s 26 
17   9 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber        1:24.533 +3.002s 34 
18  53 Alexander Rossi    Marussia      1:25.940 +4.409s 29 
19  28 Will Stevens       Marussia      1:26.968 +5.437s 28 
20  33 Max Verstappen     Toro Rosso                      2

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