Max P13 in FP2: "We're not worried."

Published on 27 November 2015 by Stefan Meens

After P12 in FP1, Max Verstappen finished the second free practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in thirteenth. The Dutchman lapped the 3.4 mile Yas Marina Circuit 1.6 seconds slower than pace setter Nico Rosberg. The Mercedes driver took P1 ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez in the Force India

“We’re not very happy with where we are but we’re not worried. The same happened in Brazil but we were competitive there in the end”, said Max to Verstappen.nl. “We’re going in the right direction set-up wise. So if everything comes together, we’ll be alright.”

At the start of the session, with the sun about to go down, all drivers head out on the soft Pirellis. Ten minutes into the session, Max enters the fray and sets the sixth quickest time followed by a long run.

The first driver to make the switch to the supersoft Pirellis is Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn capitalizes on the performance advantage of the new tyres and climbs up to P3, behind both Mercedes.

After half an hour, Max also bolts on the supersofts. Once again, the youngster ventures out on a long run, granting him P12, improving his lap times along the way.

After Max revisits the Toro Ross box for a switch back to the softs, team mate Carlos Sainz finishes FP2 early. He has to park his STR10 at the hairpin due to mechanical issues.

The Spaniard is not the only driver that fails to finish the session. Sergio Perez is forced to retire his Force India in the pits due to left rear brakes overheating.

In the meantime, Max continues to collect valuable data during another long run. In the end the 18-year-old finishes the session in P13. Sainz is classified in fourteenth.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Yas Marina Circuit – Friday 27 November 2015

RESULTS FREE PRACTICE 2 
 P  No Driver             Team          Time       Gap     Laps
 1   6 Nico Rosberg       Mercedes      1:41.983             39
 2  44 Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes      1:42.121   +0.138s   31
 3  11 Sergio Perez       Force India   1:42.610   +0.627s   23
 4   3 Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull      1:42.647   +0.664s   37
 5   5 Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari       1:42.717   +0.734s   35
 6  26 Daniil Kvyat       Red Bull      1:42.798   +0.815s   34
 7   7 Kimi Räikkönen     Ferrari       1:42.849   +0.866s   36
 8  27 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India   1:42.928   +0.945s   35
 9  14 Fernando Alonso    McLaren       1:42.955   +0.972s   31
10  13 Pastor Maldonado   Lotus         1:43.431   +1.448s   37
11  77 Valtteri Bottas    Williams      1:43.441   +1.458s   32
12  19 Felipe Massa       Williams      1:43.506   +1.523s   33
13  33 Max Verstappen     Toro Rosso    1:43.662   +1.679s   40
14  55 Carlos Sainz       Toro Rosso    1:43.854   +1.871s   20
15   8 Romain Grosjean    Lotus         1:43.929   +1.946s   27
16  22 Jenson Button      McLaren       1:44.050   +2.067s   32
17  12 Felipe Nasr        Sauber        1:44.116   +2.133s   37
18   9 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber        1:45.245   +3.262s   28
19  28 Will Stevens       Marussia      1:46.450   +4.467s   35
20  98 Roberto Merhi      Marussia      1:47.022   +5.039s   27 

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