Max P5 in final Sochi practice
Published on 29 April 2017 by Stefan Meens
Max Verstappen finished fifth in the final free practice session of the Russian Grand Prix. P5 appears to be the maximum for Red Bull Racing with the Ferraris and Mercedes setting the pace. Sebastian Vettel was fastest ahead his team mate Kimi Raikkonen. The Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton occupied P3 and P4.
At the start of the session, after a couple of installation laps, the front running teams bolt on the fastest compound Pirellis have to offer, the ultra-soft tyres. Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas and Hamilton set the pace with Max best of the rest.
At the half way point, Max heads out on a new set of the ultra soft Pirellis. In his second timed lap of the stint, the Red Bull Racing ace set his quickest lap of the session (1:35.4). In the following few laps, the tyres have lost their edge and a sliding Max is unable to put in a quicker effort around the Sochi Autodrome.
At the front, Ferrari set the pace, followed by Mercedes. Felipe Massa in the Williams put the pressure on Red Bull Racing by splitting Max and Daniel Ricciaro to claim P6 in the final session ahead of qualifying.
Russian Grand Prix - Sochi Autodrome - Saturday 29 April
FREE PRACTICE 3 RESULTS 01 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:34.001 17 02 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:34.338 +0.337s 16 03 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:34.364 +0.363s 20 04 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.542 +0.541s 19 05 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:35.452 +1.451s 21 06 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:35.471 +1.470s 17 07 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:35.662 +1.661s 15 08 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:35.830 +1.829s 24 09 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:36.164 +2.163s 20 10 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:36.556 +2.555s 19 11 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:36.649 +2.648s 19 12 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1:36.676 +2.675s 22 13 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:36.846 +2.845s 18 14 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:36.869 +2.868s 12 15 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:36.962 +2.961s 21 16 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:37.164 +3.163s 20 17 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1:37.182 +3.181s 15 18 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:37.503 +3.502s 21 19 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1:37.657 +3.656s 17 20 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 4
