Max starting from fourth in Germany: “Happy with second row”

Published on 30 July 2016 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen will start the German Grand Prix in fourth. At the Hockenheimring, Nico Rosberg was the fastest in his Mercedes in front of his home crowd, closely followed by his team mate Lewis Hamilton. Daniel Ricciardo finished in third in his Red Bull Racing.

“It was difficult to make optimal use of the tyres”, Max tells Verstappen.nl after the session. “In Q3 we tried two different options of which only the last one worked. At the end of my lap I was lacking grip in the final two corners, causing us to lose one-and-a-half tenths due to understeer. We are starting from the second row and I am very happy with that. The most important thing is that we are in front of Ferrari and the fourth place is a good position to start the battle.” Will it be the same situation again, like the previous races, with the Ferrari’s behind of you? “Hopefully we don’t need to defend, but can attack!”

With an overcast and the small possibility of a shower, the lights turn green for the first part of qualifying. Pascal Wehrlein in his Manor gets things underway, as Max is quietly waiting in his RB12. After four minutes it is Rio Haryanto who is the first to get a time on the clocks.

After seven minutes, Max gets out on track on the super softs for his first run. His first timed lap puts him third, six tenths behind Hamilton’s Mercedes. Between the two of them, stands Rosberg. Both Mercedes have done their time on the soft compound.

At the end of Q1, the front of the field doesn’t feel the need to go back out again and both Manors, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and Renault’s Kevin Magnussen are the casualties. Failing to progress on to Q2.

Rosberg and Hamilton are pretty quick to get on track when Q2 gets underway. That both Mercedes are superior to the others is apparent when both drivers better the 1:15 by a great margin. By now, both Red Bulls are also out on the course. On a new set of the super softs, Max squeezes a low 1:15 out which puts him third. Behind of him, Ricciardo is not able to better the time of the fast Dutchman and has to shortly be content with P4.

The top five feels no need for a second run and stay in. When the flag drops both McLarens, both Haas, Renault’s Jolyon Palmer and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz are the dropouts.

Sebastian Vettel is the first to get on track in Q3 with in his wake both Mercedes, Raikkonen and Max in his Red Bull. Vettel clocks a 1:15.6 and while Rosbergs pits, Kimi and shortly after Hamilton top the leaderboard.

Max is shortly in second after his first timed lap, until Ricciardo betters his time and dropping the Dutchman down to P3.

With five minutes remaining, Rosberg makes to the track to finally get a time on the clock. He will need to have to do it in one lap, because there will be no time for another run for the German. Bettering his team mate’s time by a tenth, he plants his Mercedes firmly in P1.

The rest has gone out for a second run by now. Hamilton is the first to have a go at Rosberg’s time, but his effort is fruitless. On a new set of super softs even Max is not able to beat that time. His position is safe as both Ferrari’s are not faster than the youngster.

German Grand Prix - Hockenheim - Saturday 30 July

RESULTS QUALIFYING

01  6 Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                    1:15.485 1:14.839 1:14.363 
02 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:15.243 1:14.748 1:14.470 
03  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:15.591 1:15.545 1:14.726 
04 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:15.875 1:15.124 1:14.834 
05  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:15.752 1:15.242 1:15.142 
06  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:15.927 1:15.630 1:15.315 
07 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Force India Mercedes        1:16.301 1:15.623 1:15.510 
08 77 Valtteri Bottas     Williams Mercedes           1:15.952 1:15.490 1:15.530 
09 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:16.169 1:15.500 1:15.537 
10 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:16.503 1:15.699 1:15.615 
11 21 Esteban Gutierrez   Haas Ferrari                1:15.987 1:15.883 
12 22 Jenson Button       McLaren Honda               1:16.172 1:15.909
13 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:16.317 1:15.989 
14 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:16.338 1:16.041 
15  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:16.328 1:16.086 
16 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:16.636 1:16.665 
17 20 Kevin Magnussen     Renault                     1:16.716 
18 94 Pascal Wehrlein     MRT Mercedes                1:16.717 
19 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:16.876 
20 88 Rio Haryanto        MRT Mercedes                1:16.977 
21 12 Felipe Nasr         Sauber Ferrari              1:17.123 
22  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:17.238  

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