Max trails Mercedes in FP3 by 0.002 seconds

Published on 23 July 2016 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen finished the final free practice to the Hungarian Grand Prix in second. During the closing stages of the session, during which the teams normally do a qualifying simulation, the Dutchman drove a 1:20.263, putting him just two thousandths away from Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes. The difference between the Red Bulls and the Ferrari’s was unbelievable small, promising what looks like to be an exciting race. The youngster took his time to get on track and eventually did only ten laps. Nevertheless, the speed and reliability seems to be alright.

The session is already five minutes underway when we see Max standing calmly beside his RB12. The mechanics are calmly working on the car and nothing seems to indicate that there is anything out of the ordinary. Someone who is not likely to be standing calmly next to his car is Lewis Hamilton. He crashed Friday afternoon and therefore needs to do a lot during the final practice. He immediately clocks a time on the super softs which fails to impress. Daniel Ricciardo gets on track and is four tenths quicker. To and fro we see drivers locking up their wheels and making excursions off the track, but everyone is able to continue on. Nico Rosberg gets underway and improves his time during several runnings. He manages to eventually do a 1:20.547. After some 20 minutes, we see Max jump in his car for the first time, after having waited for a calm moment.

Still it takes a while before he actually gets on track. The young race-talent seems to want to save his tyres for the race. He carefully creates a gap and gets underway for his first fast lap. On a new set of the super softs he does a 1:21.379, good enough for third and quicker than Hamilton. Not much later he indicates that the syncing of his gearbox is not working properly. His next flying lap is a 1:20.995. His team mate has closed in on Rosberg’s time by a tenth.

Many drivers are struggling to keep on track at turn four. Especially Felipe Massa is exceeding track limits too often.

Apart from Red Bull Racing, Ferrari is also showing their potential. Kimi Raikkonen is a tenth faster than Max and positions himself in the group that can pose a threat to Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel is two tenths slower than the Dutchman. Both Williams’ are trailing the group by some distance.

With track temperature exceeding 50 degrees C., everyone is getting ready for a final run, simulating qualifying. Nico Rosberg takes off three tenths and does a 1:20.261 and Hamilton also improves his time. However he comes in third and is a tenth shy on Ricciardo. Max is also on a quick lap: after two sectors he is within one tenth of Rosberg’s time. Crossing the line, he is just two thousandths away of beating the fastest time.

In the mid-field, especially Renault has taken some big strides in the right direction. Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen clock the tenth and twelfth time. Toro Rosso keeps dropping and is now only sixteenth and eighteenth.

Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring - Saturday 23 July 

RESULTS FINAL FREE PRACTICE

01  6 Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                    1:20.261          25
02 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:20.263 +0.002s  10
03  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:20.726 +0.465s  22
04 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:20.769 +0.508s  23
05  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:20.859 +0.598s  18
06  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:21.185 +0.924s  22
07 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:21.584 +1.323s  11
08 77 Valtteri Bottas     Williams Mercedes           1:21.649 +1.388s  21
09 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:21.672 +1.411s  22
10 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:21.935 +1.674s  19
11 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:21.975 +1.714s  28
12 20 Kevin Magnussen     Renault                     1:21.989 +1.728s  13
13 22 Jenson Button       McLaren Honda               1:22.009 +1.748s  11
14 21 Esteban Gutierrez   Haas Ferrari                1:22.142 +1.881s  15
15  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:22.284 +2.023s  13
16 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:22.402 +2.141s  21
17 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Force India Mercedes        1:22.427 +2.166s  22
18 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:22.541 +2.280s  18
19 12 Felipe Nasr         Sauber Ferrari              1:22.816 +2.555s  23
20  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:23.219 +2.958s  23
21 94 Pascal Wehrlein     MRT Mercedes                1:23.311 +3.050s  24
22 88 Rio Haryanto        MRT Mercedes                1:23.513 +3.252s  23 

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