Max qualifies sixth in Bahrain: "Disappointing"

Published on 15 April 2017 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen qualified in sixth for the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas took the first pole position of his career in his third race for Mercedes. His team mate Lewis Hamilton was second ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Max’ team mate Daniel Ricciardo completes the second row of the grid with Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) starting fifth.

P6 is a disappointing result for Max: “Everyone prepares for the final corner and then Massa just flies by. It meant I had to stay in first gear a while to create a gap again. That meant my tyres were very cold because we already do a slow outlap. It’s really frustrating that everything went well until the last run, when it actually matters as the track is constantly getting quicker. To be disadvantaged this much in the last corner, I guess that’s part of it. We’ll see what happens tomorrow in the race.”

The gap to pole sitter Bottas is almost a second. “Even though it’s a lot better than the previous races, eight, nine tenths is still too much. But we know that Mercedes and Ferrari turn up their engines in the final run. That adds something.”

Q1 is business as usual; Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing comfortably progress. Carlos Sainz, Stoffel Vandoorne, Sergio Perez, Marcus Ericsson and Kevin Magnussen all strand in the first part of qualifying.

Q2 is off to a busy start with most drivers out to set a time. Mercedes sets the pace with the Red Bulls in fifth and sixth. Fernando Alonso is the only driver not clocking a lap. His McLaren is stuck in the garage with technical issues. It results in Q2 being the Spaniard’s final qualifying session of the day. Others that do not make Q3 are Daniil Kvyat, Lance Stroll, Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon.

In the final part of qualifying, the Red Bulls are the first cars to set a time. Max’ is quickest of the two by three tenths. However, during their second run, Ricciardo takes the advantage. The Australian qualifies in P4 with Max trailing a tenth in sixth.

Bahrain Grand Prix - Bahrain International Circuit - Saturday 15 April

01  Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                    1:31.041 1:29.555 1:28.769 12
02  Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:30.814 1:29.535 1:28.792 13
03  Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:31.037 1:29.596 1:29.247 12
04  Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:31.667 1:30.497 1:29.545 12
05  Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:30.988 1:29.843 1:29.567 16
06  Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:30.904 1:30.307 1:29.687 12
07  Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                     1:31.057 1:30.169 1:29.842 15
08  Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:31.373 1:30.677 1:30.074 12
09  Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:31.691 1:30.857 1:30.763 16
10  Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:31.458 1:30.899 1:31.074 15
11  Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso                  1:31.531 1:30.923          12
12  Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes           1:31.748 1:31.168          12
13  Pascal Wehrlein     Sauber Ferrari              1:31.995 1:31.414          15
14  Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes        1:31.774 1:31.684          12
15  Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:32.054                   8
16  Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                  1:32.118                   5
17  Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda               1:32.313                   8
18  Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:32.318                   7
19  Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:32.543                   9
20  Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari                1:32.900                   8 

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