Max P1 in final free practice at Singapore GP
Published on 16 September 2017 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen topped the leaderboard during the third and final free practice. On the 5,073 meter long Marina Bay Circuit Park, he outdid Ferrari running Sebastian Vettel who finished second. Lewis Hamilton was third fastest in his Mercedes.
At the start of the session there is some overcast in Singapore, but there is no rain expected. Just like the start of the first free practice session on Friday, it’s also not dark yet. Both Ferrari’s are the first to get out on track as soon as the lights turned green at the end of the pit lane. In their wake, both Saubers and Haas follow.
It doesn’t take long before we see Max out on track as well. Just like most of the drivers, he sticks to just an installation lap resulting in no time being put on the clocks. The first to get a timed lap is Valtteri Bottas. The Fin is on the supersofts but is lacking some speed. His times are 5 seconds off the pace of Daniel Ricciardo’s best time he noted yesterday.
After fifteen minutes, we see both Ferrari’s at the front of the field. Vettel brushes the wall during his hot lap, but is able to continue on without any visible damage. In his first flying lap, Hamilton is down one second on Vettel, putting him second. By then, both Red Bulls are still in the pits.
With still some 37 minutes remaining on the clock, it’s Ricciardo who ventures out, being the first of the Red Bulls. Max follows suit shortly. Both RB13’s have a new set of the ultra-soft tyres strapped on. His first flying lap puts Ricciardo in second, behind of Vettel, moments later Max snatches P1 from the German. The lead of the youngster on Vettel’s Ferrari is almost one second. Halfway the session, the top five consists of: Max, Vettel, Ricciardo, Hülkenberg and Sergio Perez.
Marcus Ericsson brings out the red flag moments later. The Swede parks his car, rear side first, in the wall which leaves a lot of debris on the track. This made race control decide to shut down things for a while for a clean up. In the meantime, the clock keeps ticking on and precious time is lost.
With still nineteen minutes remaining, a re-start follows. The first ones out on track are the both Ferrari’s, Mercedes and Stoffel Vandoorne. Vettel is fast on track and before too long takes over the first spot from Max. Fernando Alonso brilliantly puts his McLaren in fourth while team mate Vandoorne is eight fastest.
Dusk is fast approaching as Max gets out on track for his final run. Ricciardo has also left the pits. Max straps in and with one hot lap regains the number one spot. In the meantime, Ricciardo has clipped the wall and is slowly making his way back to the pits.
Not much later we hear Max on the team radio saying that his car is shifting gear by itself. His engineer asks him to return to the pits. Once again technical issues on Max’ Red Bull. It doesn’t take long to have matters sorted though and with some minutes left, Max heads back out.
Singapore Grand Prix - Marina Bay Circuit - Saturday 16 September
FREE PRACTICE 3 RESULTS 01 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:41.829 12 02 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:41.901 +0.072s 13 03 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:41.971 +0.142s 16 04 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:42.383 +0.554s 11 05 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1:42.439 +0.610s 13 06 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:42.517 +0.688s 11 07 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:42.549 +0.720s 10 08 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:42.592 +0.763s 16 09 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:42.708 +0.879s 16 10 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:43.010 +1.181s 14 11 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1:43.109 +1.280s 15 12 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:43.356 +1.527s 17 13 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:43.368 +1.539s 11 14 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:43.574 +1.745s 17 15 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:43.724 +1.895s 17 16 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:44.041 +2.212s 16 17 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:44.223 +2.394s 18 18 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:44.295 +2.466s 16 19 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1:45.760 +3.931s 15 20 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:46.339 +4.510s 7
