Max plays no part in FP2: “Tricky conditions”
Published on 18 March 2016 by Niels Hendrix
Having had an almost rained out first free practice earlier today, the second free practice was also driven in mixed conditions. Max never got round to driving in FP2, as it served no purpose in these conditions. Lewis Hamilton was once again the fastest in the second session, followed by Nico Hülkenberg in the Force India and Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari.
Max’ response at the end of the session is short and decisive. He tells Verstappen.nl: “It was a difficult day with tricky conditions. Because of those tricky conditions I wasn’t able to drive a lot, making it hard for me to draw a conclusion after the first day. I hope tomorrow will be dry, so we can finish our schedule and work on the setup of the car.”
In the run up to the Australian GP, at the start of the second free practice, it’s raining and it’s only 15 degrees. We see no signs of drivers getting ready to take to the track. Max is also not in his car. The first to venture out, after about fifteen minutes, is Daniel Ricciardo. The ever smiling Ozzie heads out on the intermediates, while the track is still wet and there are puddles everywhere. Slowly the sun breaks through and we see more cars appear on track.
Just when the first half hour has passed, Nico Rosberg kisses the wall when getting back on the throttle in turn six. His front wing is severly damaged and is dangling under his car. When driving back to the pits, Mercedes asks the German, at the request of the FIA, to park his car alongside the track. It is thought that too much carbon parts will be deposited on the circuit. This means that Rosberg is finished for the day.
It takes very long before the track starts to get dry. Even then, there is no sign of Max on track. His team mate at Scuderia Toro Rosso, Carlos Sainz, ventures out and manages to run pretty well at the front.
With a little over half an hour to go, we see Max prepare himself to head out. When the time is eventually almost there, it starts raining again and the decision is made to keep Max in.
Albert Park – Australian Grand Prix – Friday 18 March 2016:
P No Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:38.841 6 2 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:39.308 +0.467s 8 3 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:39.486 +0.645s 7 4 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:39.535 +0.694s 9 5 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:39.694 +0.853s 16 6 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:39.895 +1.054s 16 7 22 Jenson Button McLaren 1:40.008 +1.167s 13 8 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:40.761 +1.920s 7 9 11 Sergio Perez Force India 1:41.256 +2.415s 8 10 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:42.411 +3.570s 10 11 21 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:42.891 +4.050s 10 12 94 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:43.401 +4.560s 24 13 8 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:43.731 +4.890s 8 14 88 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:44.304 +5.463s 22 15 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:47.356 +8.515s 4 16 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault 2 17 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 5 18 19 Felipe Massa Williams 2 19 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams 2
