Max sixth after Friday practice: 'Hopefully we can fight tomorrow'

Published on 21 June 2019 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen has clocked the sixth quickest time in the second free practice session of the French Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas was fastest ahead of Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton. Charles Leclerc completed the top three.

“It was a reasonable day, we tried some stuff with the car and made some steps. But it’s clear Mercedes are a lot faster than everybody else”, said Max. “My fastest lap was a bit scruffy with traffic and some aborted laps. So I think we can be a bit closer to Ferrari and fight with them tomorrow.”

Fifteen minutes into FP2, Max makes his first appearance on track. He starts a long run on the medium Pirelli compound, resulting in P2, behind Bottas.

After a visit to the pits, Max heads out for another stint, again on the medium. The moment the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing starts his timed effort, Lewis Hamilton makes a mistake and slides off track. As the world champion drives back onto the circuit, Max has to use every ounce of skill to avoid Hamilton. Max avoids a collision by going off track, aborts his lap and returns to the team. The FIA investigated the incident but decided to not take any further action.

With twenty minutes to go, it is busy on track; only Lando Norris is in the pits. Max has ventured out on a long run on the medium Pirellis, meaning the Dutchman fastest effort set earlier in the session remains his quickest of the session. Meanwhile, Mercedes set the pace during the race simulations in the closing stages of the session. Max and Red Bull Racing appear to keep up with the Ferraris.

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Results second free practice France: