Max starts off new season in P5 in a rainy Melbourne
Published on 18 March 2016 by Mike Motilall
After a firm debut for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2015, and preseason testing that went well, Max Verstappen finally kicked off the new Formula 1-season on Friday. The fast Dutchman finished on the Albert Park circuit in fifth during the first free practice. Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton finished first in his Mercedes. Daniil Kvyat came in second for Red Bull Racing, ahead of his team mate Daniel Ricciardo, who claimed third.
When the lights turn green at the end of the pitlane, for the first time in 2016, it is cloudy and the track is wet. Sebastian Vettel is the first to venture out on the full wets. Max also takes to the track pretty early. For his first installation lap, he has gone out on the intermediates but comes back in after that lap. With a 1:44.037, Nico Rosberg is the first one to put a timed lap down in 2016.
After the first half hour, there are only three drivers with a time, Kimi Raikkonen being the fastest. At that moment, Carlos Sainz, has briefly been out. The Spaniard has issues preventing him to finish his installation lap and halts in the pit lane.
When Max eventually heads out on the medium compound tyres, there is a rain shower passing over the circuit and the youngster returns to the pits, not being able to do anything. This applies for most of the drivers as well, bringing about a period of little action on the track. Fifteen minutes later, when Max takes to the track again, it is not raining anymore, but the track is still wet. He has intermediates strapped on to his STR11 and a few laps later he comes back in being in P4. At that time, he was the fastest on the intemediates.
At the end of the session, we get a glimpse of the sun. The sun and the wind quickly dry up the circuit. Max heads out on the softs and settles down for a fast lap. However, in sector two he slips, having been too eagerly on the still wet kerb stones. Moments later, the youngster briefly takes second, behind Nico Hülkenberg. It is quite busy on track as more rain is expected before the end of the session.
Not much later, it indeed starts raining on some parts of the track, making it hard to clock a fast time. Max, by now, has dropped to fourth. Sainz has apparently resolved his issues as we briefly see him on track at the end. He fails to put a time on the clock, neither does Vettel.
At the end of the session, a heavy rain shower passes over the circuit catching out Raikkonen and Ricciardo. The Finn is able to continue on after having slipped, but the Ozzie finishes in the gravel.
Albert Park – Australian Grand Prix – Friday 18 March 2016:
P No Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.725 14 2 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:30.146 +0.421s 14 3 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:30.875 +1.150s 13 4 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:31.325 +1.600s 8 5 33 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:31.720 +1.995s 14 6 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:31.814 +2.089s 11 7 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:33.060 +3.335s 11 8 22 Jenson Button McLaren 1:33.129 +3.404s 16 9 11 Sergio Perez Force India 1:33.370 +3.645s 6 10 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:34.060 +4.335s 13 11 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:34.550 +4.825s 6 12 19 Felipe Massa Williams 1:34.679 +4.954s 6 13 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:34.796 +5.071s 7 14 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:35.477 +5.752s 12 15 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:37.956 +8.231s 6 16 94 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:40.401 +10.676s 6 17 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:40.754 +11.029s 10 18 21 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:41.780 +12.055s 8 19 88 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:43.372 +13.647s 7 20 8 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:43.443 +13.718s 6 21 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 8 22 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 3
