Verstappen 8th fastest in second free practice Bahrain: “Not quite pleased”
Published on 14 April 2017 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen didn’t quite have a smooth running in the second free practice of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Due to an issue with the floor of the RB13, Verstappen remained in the pits for an extended period of time and was only able to lap the track 18 times. With a 1:32.245 the Dutchman was the eight fastest. Ferrari running Sebastian Vettel came in first, shortly followed by Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo.
After the practice, Max explained what caused the damage to the floor: “The floor was heavily damaged because I ran over Bottas’ T-wing that had broken off. The team therefor needed to replace the car’s floor, something that takes a lot of time. That’s why our practice was compromised and I was only able to do one long run. It was unfortunate that the T-wing had come off and I was as equally unlucky to have run over it. All in all not an ideal day, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”
On the other hand, the speed of team mate Ricciardo was encouraging. He finished in third, not far off the pace of the fastest man on track, Vettel. “Ricciardo was able to do a good tempo with another set-up. We are looking quite competitive here. I am not entirely happy about my own set-up, so we need to work hard on my car. But it is important to do some more laps tomorrow.”
The second free practice of the Bahrain Grand Prix gets underway just after sunset. Countless light posts make sure the track is well lit. Verstappen remains in the pits for quite a while before heading out on track. After some fifteen minutes, the Red Bull Racing-driver is on track on the soft compound tyres. Max immediately squeezes out a 1:32.769, good enough for the fifth fastest time at that moment. He then heads back to the pits. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz comes to a stop in his smoke bellowing Toro Rosso at turn 11. The Spaniard’s car is pushed behind the guard rails during a brief virtual car situation.
With still an hour remaining in the session, Verstappen gets out on track on the super soft tyres for the first time this weekend. With a 1:32.251 he clocks the fifth fastest time. Shortly after, the Dutchman betters that by clocking a 1:32.245. Just then he has dropped back to eighth.
For quite some time it remained a bit calm on the circuit. As usual in the second free practice, the teams shift their focus, in the final part of the session, to the race set-up. Sebastian Vettel, with still some 40 minutes on the clocks, comes to a stop in his Ferrari. The German has run into an electronical issue in his car and is not able to make it to the pits on his own. The Red Bull Racing-mechanics are feverishly working on Verstappen’s RB13 floor. Causing him to be in the pits, far longer than intended. The damage to the floor, has been caused by a T-wing from Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes that came off and which Max was not able to avoid anymore.
Only in the final part of the session, the team was able to get the problem solved and Max was able to get back on track. On the super soft tyres, he manages to pull off some decent lap times in the 1:37’s. Verstappen finishes the second free practice with a total of 19 laps and an eighth place finish. Vettel, Bottas and Ricciardo finish quite close to another. This shows that Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull Racing are quite evenly matched to one another in Bahrain. Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton came in fourth and fifth.
Bahrain Grand Prix - Bahrain International Circuit - Friday 14 April
FREE PRACTICE 2 RESULTS 01 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:31.310 29 02 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:31.351 +0.041s 35 03 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:31.376 +0.066s 28 04 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:31.478 +0.168s 34 05 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.594 +0.284s 35 06 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:31.883 +0.573s 37 07 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:32.079 +0.769s 37 08 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:32.245 +0.935s 18 09 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:32.505 +1.195s 34 10 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:32.707 +1.397s 35 11 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:32.854 +1.544s 33 12 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1:32.875 +1.565s 38 13 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:32.876 +1.566s 38 14 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:32.897 +1.587s 31 15 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:33.319 +2.009s 34 16 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:33.361 +2.051s 36 17 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:33.944 +2.634s 34 18 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:34.072 +2.762s 5 19 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1:34.117 +2.807s 29 20 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1:34.230 +2.920s 8
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