Technical issue curtails Max' running in FP2

Published on 13 March 2015 by Stefan Meens

After a successful first free practice session at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Max Verstappen’s running in free practice 2 was cut short. After only six laps, the Dutchman was forced to stay in the pits due to an ERS issue.

Nevertheless, Max remains optimistic: “The first free practice session went well. I completed a lot of laps – 31 – and I was able to really get to know the track, which was the main thing. Also, I didn’t go off nor were there any mistakes. The speed in the STR10 was there as well so I’m happy about that.”

“This afternoon unfortunately we were not able to spend much time out on track due to a battery issue. The team pushed very hard to send me out again but we ran out of time”, explains Max. “It’s frustrating but it’s outside my control.”

Max was therefore limited to only six laps in the second session of the Australian street circuit. His quickest time (1:31.395) granted him P14 at the end of the session.

At the front, it was business as usual. Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton finished the session in first and second, followed by the Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. Further down the pitlane, McLaren experienced a tough afternoon with Fernando Alonso’s replacement Kevin Magnussen causing a red flag after crashing the car in turn 6.

Carlos Sainz experienced a more fruitful session compared to his Dutch colleague. Despite a small spin, the Spaniard managed 41 laps. His 1:30.0, 2.3 seconds of Rosberg’s pace, is the seventh quickest time of free practice 2.

For Saturday, the third free practice session and qualifying are scheduled. Max’ plans are clear: “That we lost a lot of track time is obviously not ideal. But we will check the data tonight with the engineers. Hopefully we can make the best out of tomorrow’s third and final practice session so we can put in a good performance in qualifying.”

Australian Grand Prix – Albert Park – Friday 13 March 

FREE PRACTICE 2
   Name 		Team 		Time 	   Laps 
 1 Nico Rosberg 	Mercedes 	1:27.697   29 
 2 Lewis Hamilton 	Mercedes 	1:27.797   25 
 3 Sebastian Vettel 	Ferrari 	1:28.412   33 
 4 Kimi Raikkonen 	Ferrari 	1:28.842   33 
 5 Valtteri Bottas 	Williams 	1:29.265   32 
 6 Daniil Kvyat 	Red Bull 	1:30.016   27 
 7 Carlos Sainz Jr 	Toro Rosso 	1:30.071   41 
 8 Pastor Maldonado 	Lotus 		1:30.104   11 
 9 Romain Grosjean 	Lotus 		1:30.205   37 
10 Nico Hulkenberg 	Force India 	1:30.473   30 
11 Felipe Nasr 		Sauber 		1:30.755   33 
12 Sergio Perez 	Force India 	1:30.980   32 
13 Jenson Button 	McLaren 	1:31.387   21 
14 Max Verstappen 	Toro Rosso 	1:31.395   6 
15 Marcus Ericsson 	Sauber 		1:32.303   14 
16 Kevin Magnussen 	McLaren 	1:33.289   4 

Via Twitter and Facebook we'll keep you updated throughout the test followed by a full report on Verstappen.nl at the end of the day’s action. You can find the schedule for the Australian Grand Prix here. Don't forget to check out the weekend’s photo album.