Max fourth in final Spa practice session

Published on 26 August 2017 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen completed a hattrick of fourth places in the free practice sessions leading up to the Belgian Grand Prix. In FP3, the Dutchman occupied P4 behind the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in third.

“It went fairly well, the way we expected, really. The set-up could be improved, but we’re just too slow around Spa. We can make some changes to the wing set-up but that won’t make up a second”, explained the youngster at his home Grand Prix.

Despite three P4s in a row, Max does not expect to qualify in fourth. “We’ll probably be fifth or sixth. I’ll give it my best.”

Due to overnight rain, at the start of the session most drivers opt for an opening run on intermediates. After the customary installation laps, it remains fairly quiet out on track until Daniil Kvyat (Scuderia Toro Rosso) is the first driver to clock a time.

Twenty minutes into the session, Max ventures out for his first lap time. On a set of Pirelli super-softs, the Dutchman slots in behind Raikkonen, Vettel and Hamilton – in the same order as at the end of the session.

Meanwhile, Kvyat’s Toro Rosso has grind to a halt on the Kemmel straight. The Russian reports a loss of power to his team, signalling the end of his practice session.

In the final part of FP3, the teams focus on qualifying runs. Max temporarily sets the fastest time on a set of new ultra-softs before Raikkonen, Vettel and Hamilton go quicker.

Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps - Saturday 26 August

FREE PRACTICE 3 RESULTS

01  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:43.916          17
02  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:44.113 +0.197s  15
03 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:44.114 +0.198s  11
04 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:45.034 +1.118s  13
05 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                    1:45.230 +1.314s  18
06  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:45.286 +1.370s  18
07 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:45.491 +1.575s  11
08 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:45.857 +1.941s  14
09 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                  1:45.942 +2.026s  18
10 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:46.060 +2.144s  12
11 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                     1:46.064 +2.148s  11
12 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes        1:46.179 +2.263s  14
13  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:46.196 +2.280s  14
14  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda               1:46.300 +2.384s  14
15 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes           1:46.620 +2.704s  18
16 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:46.667 +2.751s  22
17 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari                1:46.690 +2.774s  13
18 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso                  1:47.903 +3.987s  7
19 94 Pascal Wehrlein     Sauber Ferrari              1:48.296 +4.380s  17
20  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:48.300 +4.384s  6 

Belgian GP contest: win 1:8 Max Verstappen helmet scale models