Max Verstappen confident after FP3

Published on 09 May 2015 by Stefan Meens

In the run up to qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen ended the third and last free practice session in eighth. Nico Rosberg took P1 (1:26.021) ahead of Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel and his Mercedes colleague Lewis Hamilton. Scuderia Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz set the tenth quickest time.

“Like yesterday I'm happy with the car's set-up so we're confidently going into qualifying”, said Max after FP3, who made his ambitions clear by adding: “Q3 is a realistic target.”

Overnight, the Toro Rosso mechanics worked hard to fit a new power unit into Max's car. It is the 17-year-old's fourth engine of the 2015 campaign which means he has reached the season's engine limit after just five Grands Prix. Nevertheless, Max heads out on track fifteen minutes after FP3 kicked off. His first timed lap is a 1:28.9 which is quickly succeeded by a 1:28.5. In the early stages of the sessions, all drivers are lapping the Circuit the Catalunya on the harder compound, with the exception of Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian lost a lot of valuable time yesterday due to engine troubles and had to catch up collecting date on the medium Pirellis.

With roughly fifteen minutes on the clock, most drivers switch to the mediums to prepare for qualifying. Until that point, Max sits in a solid P8, trailing Rosberg by 1.8 seconds. But the youngster uses the faster tyres well and his fastest lap of the session (1:27.132) reduces the gap to the front by seven tenths of a second. Max' time is also six tenths quicker than Sainz' best run but a tenth shy of the fastest Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo.

His team mate, Daniil Kvyat struggled significantly in FP3 as his running was cut short to the last twenty minutes, adding to the limited track time Red Bull Racing has had so far. At the back, both Manor's managed to set a lap within the 107% rule. A good achievement for the only team that did not attend the pre-season test at the Barcelona circuit.

Spanish Grand Prix - Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya - Saturday 9 May

 FREE PRACTICE 3
 P No Driver 		Team 		Time 	     Gap        Laps
 1  6 Nico Rosberg    	Mercedes 	1:26.021s               19 
 2  5 Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari 	1:26.177s    +0.156s    14 
 3 44 Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes 	1:26.222s    +0.201s    10 
 4 77 Valtteri Bottas   Williams 	1:26.682s    +0.661s    19 
 5  7 Kimi Räikkönen    Ferrari 	1:26.944s    +0.923s    14 
 6  3 Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull 	1:27.048s    +1.027s    19 
 7 19 Felipe Massa    	Williams 	1:27.109s    +1.088s    19 
 8 33 Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso 	1:27.132s    +1.111s    18 
 9 26 Daniil Kvyat    	Red Bull 	1:27.313s    +1.292s     7 
10 55 Carlos Sainz    	Toro Rosso 	1:27.809s    +1.788s    17 
11 22 Jenson Button    	McLaren 	1:27.938s    +1.917s    17 
12 27 Nico Hulkenberg   Force India 	1:28.082s    +2.061s    13 
13 12 Felipe Nasr    	Sauber 		1:28.096s    +2.075s    23 
14 14 Fernando Alonso   McLaren 	1:28.304s    +2.283s    17 
15  8 Romain Grosjean   Lotus 		1:28.578s    +2.557s    17 
16 13 Pastor Maldonado  Lotus 		1:28.618s    +2.597s    18 
17  9 Marcus Ericsson   Sauber 		1:28.788s    +2.767s    20 
18 11 Sergio Perez    	Force India 	1:28.996s    +2.975s    14 
19 28 Will Stevens    	Marussia 	1:31.125s    +5.104s    16 
20 98 Roberto Merhi    	Marussia 	1:31.749s    +5.728s    17 

On Twitter and Facebook we'll keep you updated throughout the weekend followed by a full report on Verstappen.nl at the end of the day’s action. You can find the schedule for the Spanish Grand Prix here. 

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