Max remains in top 10 in FP2

Published on 18 September 2015 by Stefan Meens

After finishing seventh in FP1, Max Verstappen continued to impress with P10 in the second free practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix. The fastest man around the Marina Bay Street Circuit in the final Friday session was not a Mercedes driver but Daniil Kvyat. Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo completed the top three.

“I had to learn the track so I took it easy in the beginning, but I was able to improve as time went on”, explains Max to Verstappen.nl. “I'm happy with the progress we made, I didn’t hit the wall and didn’t damage the car. FP2 went well on the soft tyre but we'll have to work on the balance when using the super softs. Physically the track is tougher than any of the other tracks I've driven. Even tougher than Malaysia."

As usual at the start of the second free practice session, the entire grid heads out on the harder of the two compounds. Only six minutes into the session, the red flag is shown. Like FP1, it is one of the Manors that is the cause of the interruption. His time it is Will Stevens who hits the barriers.

Once the session is resumed, Carlos Sainz is the next driver to run into trouble. The Toro Rosso driver hits the wall resulting in a left rear puncture. Nevertheless, the Spaniard is able to nurse his STR10 back to the pits.

Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen is the first driver to clock a lap on the super softs. Max follows but is not pleased with his run. He tells his race engineer Xevi Pujolar he does not feel the tyres give him more grip.

With half an hour to go, Max heads out on the softs while his team mate stays on the super softs. Both drivers opt for a long run. In his, Max misses his braking point forcing him off track. The Dutchman is however able to rejoin the track without issues. His team mate has bigger problems when he tells his team he has no power exiting the final corner. The Spaniard finishes the session in fifteenth.

Despite the Mercedes powered cars posting the highest top speeds, the top three at the end of FP2 consists of two Renault and one Ferrari powered car. Red Bull Racing's Kvyat and Ricciardo are split by Raikkonen's Ferrari. The usual front runners Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are found in fourth and seventh.

Marina Bay Street Circuit - Singapore Grand Prix - 18 September 2015

RESULTS FREE PRACTICE 2
 P   No   Driver             Team          Time       Gap     Laps
 1   26   Daniil Kvyat       Red Bull      1:46.142             34
 2    7   Kimi Räikkönen     Ferrari       1:46.181   +0.039s   34
 3    3   Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull      1:46.256   +0.114s   29
 4   44   Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes      1:46.479   +0.337s   33
 5    5   Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari       1:46.487   +0.345s   35
 6   11   Sergio Perez       Force India   1:46.659   +0.517s   30
 7    6   Nico Rosberg       Mercedes      1:46.781   +0.639s   34
 8   14   Fernando Alonso    McLaren       1:46.959   +0.817s   26
 9   27   Nico Hulkenberg    Force India   1:47.294   +1.152s   35
10   33   Max Verstappen     Toro Rosso    1:47.427   +1.285s   32
11   19   Felipe Massa       Williams      1:47.684   +1.542s   28
12   12   Felipe Nasr        Sauber        1:47.755   +1.613s   26
13    9   Marcus Ericsson    Sauber        1:47.795   +1.653s   33
14   22   Jenson Button      McLaren       1:47.888   +1.746s   28
15   55   Carlos Sainz       Toro Rosso    1:48.012   +1.870s   23
16    8   Romain Grosjean    Lotus         1:48.096   +1.954s   32
17   77   Valtteri Bottas    Williams      1:48.118   +1.976s   28
18   13   Pastor Maldonado   Lotus         1:50.094   +3.952s   30
19   53   Alexander Rossi    Marussia      1:56.739   +10.597s   9
20   28   Will Stevens       Marussia      1:59.932   +13.790s   3 

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