Max third in Mexico FP1
Published on 27 October 2017 by Stefan Meens
Max Verstappen opened his Mexican Grand Prix weekend with a third place in FP1. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) was quickest, followed by team mate Lewis Hamilton. Daniel Ricciardo, in the other Red Bull Racing, completed the top four, behind Max.
At the start of the session, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso is the first driver out of the box. His team mate Stoffel Vandoorne, is testing the Halo. The new safety feature is also tried by Force India’s test driver Alfonso Celis and Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Brendan Hartley. The Kiwi is set to replace Daniil Kvyat until the end of the season.
Max’s session starts slightly ominous, with smoke coming out of the back of the RB13 and the Dutchman returns to team after his installation lap. Whatever produced the smoke, was dealt with; half an hour into the session, Max is back on track and sets the fastest lap. In the end, it is Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who is fastest on the first set of tyres.
In the second half of the session, the lap times tumble as the teams bolt on the ultra soft Pirellis. Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) and Celis both spin. The Finn is able to resume the session without damage, but the Force India driver is less lucky; his crash causes a red flag.
With twenty minutes to go, Max is FP1 is done. After he set the third fastest time, his team are changing the set-up meaning Max will not be on track for the remainder of the session.
In the end, it is the Mercedes that set the pace with Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton first and second, in front of the two Red Bulls.
Mexican Grand Prix - Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez - Friday 27 October
FREE PRACTICE 1 RESULTS 01 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:17.824 42 02 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:18.290 +0.466s 35 03 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:18.395 +0.571s 16 04 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:18.421 +0.597s 28 05 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:18.586 +0.762s 28 06 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:19.008 +1.184s 27 07 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:19.240 +1.416s 21 08 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:19.346 +1.522s 20 09 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:19.443 +1.619s 32 10 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:19.552 +1.728s 19 11 55 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:19.554 +1.730s 24 12 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:19.772 +1.948s 34 13 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:20.644 +2.820s 16 14 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1:20.971 +3.147s 30 15 50 Antonio Giovinazzi Haas Ferrari 1:21.269 +3.445s 26 16 37 Charles Leclerc Sauber Ferrari 1:21.446 +3.622s 28 17 38 Sean Gelael Toro Rosso 1:21.639 +3.815s 29 18 28 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:21.747 +3.923s 10 19 34 Alfonso Celis Force India Mercedes 1:22.342 +4.518s 17 20 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 3
