Max fourth in final Suzuka practice session
Published on 07 October 2017 by Stefan Meens
Max Verstappen practice session to the Japanese Grand Prix in fourth. After completing 15 laps of the Suzuka circuit, the Dutchman clocked a fastest effort of 1:29.910. The Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were quickest ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The session was red-flagged after crashes from the two Finns on the grid, Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) and Bottas).
Despite the heavy rainfall that has battered Suzuka in the last few days, the track is dry enough for slicks at the start of FP3. Max takes his time and the first time he ventures out is fifteen minutes into the session on a set of the soft Pirellis.
After twenty minutes, Valtteri Bottas goes wide at Spoon corner. He drives over the wet astroturf and hits the barriers. The result is a partly ripped of front wing and a broken rear wheel. Because of the debris and dislodged astroturf, the session is red-flagged,
Ten minutes later, the clear-up is done and the session is resumed. However, it is not long after when the second red flag comes out. Kimi Raikkonen has lost control of his Ferrari in the Degner curvers. Despite his efforts to correct the oversteer, the Finn finds himself in the tyre wall.
After the track is cleared, the team bolt on the super-soft Pirellis tyres for qualifying simulations. In the end, Mercedes is fastest ahead of Vettel’s Ferrari and the two Red Bulls of Max and Daniel Ricciardo.
Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka - Saturday 7 October
FREE PRACTICE 3 RESULTS 01 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:29.055 9 02 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.069 +0.014s 19 03 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:29.379 +0.324s 23 04 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:29.910 +0.855s 15 05 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:30.018 +0.963s 13 06 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1:30.109 +1.054s 12 07 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:30.315 +1.260s 19 08 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:30.424 +1.369s 13 09 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:30.563 +1.508s 12 10 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:30.764 +1.709s 22 11 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:30.764 +1.709s 21 12 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1:30.770 +1.715s 18 13 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:30.799 +1.744s 23 14 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:30.982 +1.927s 12 15 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:31.011 +1.956s 20 16 10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:31.353 +2.298s 25 17 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:31.459 +2.404s 13 18 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:32.579 +3.524s 22 19 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1:32.698 +3.643s 21 20 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:33.962 +4.907s 12
