Max kicks off Bahrain GP in eighth: "Still some work to do"
Published on 01 April 2016 by Stefan Meens
Max Verstappen clocked the eighth fastest time in the first free practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Scuderia Toro Rosso driver trailed fastest man Nico Rosberg by 2.5 seconds. The German finished the session on top ahead of Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.
“It went pretty well. We took our time to pick up the pace and familiarize ourselves”, said Max to Verstappen.nl. “The conditions weren’t optimal because of the sand and dust on the track. Nevertheless we worked on improving our set-up. It isn’t yet how we want it to be so we’ll have some work to do. But it was good to have driven here again.”
When the pitlane opens for the first session at the Bahrain International Circuit, Max hits the track straight away for an installation lap but waits a while for setting a serious time. The Sakhir based circuit is ‘green’ due to the sand from the surrounding desert meaning the track will improve as the weekend progresses.
Once Max does venture out for his first timed laps, the Dutchman does an eleven laps stint on the soft Pirelli compound. A 1:35.7 brings him up to seventh. His second stint, also on the softs, lasts eight laps. The youngster improves on his lap time by clocking his quickest time of the session (1:34.860). Max finishes FP1 with pit stop practice.
At the very front, Mercedes once again set the pace with Silver Arrows claiming to top two spots ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. The former’s team mate Sebastian Vettel only lapped the Bahrain track on mediums and finished eleventh.
Stoffel Vandoorne made his Grand Prix weekend debut, standing in for the injured Fernando Alonso. The Belgian finished the session in P18, nine tenths adrift off McLaren team mate Jenson Button.
Bahrain Grand Prix - Bahrain International Circuit - Friday 1 April
RESULTS FP1 P No Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.294 24 2 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:32.799 +0.505s 24 3 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:34.128 +1.834s 16 4 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:34.461 +2.167s 27 5 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:34.541 +2.247s 30 6 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:34.601 +2.307s 28 7 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:34.793 +2.499s 21 8 33 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:34.860 +2.566s 19 9 8 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:35.000 +2.706s 18 10 19 Felipe Massa Williams 1:35.006 +2.712s 19 11 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:35.073 +2.779s 14 12 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:35.174 +2.880s 21 13 21 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:35.309 +3.015s 19 14 22 Jenson Button McLaren 1:35.440 +3.146s 28 15 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:35.490 +3.196s 27 16 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:35.728 +3.434s 30 17 94 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:36.371 +4.077s 26 18 47 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:36.392 +4.098s 25 19 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:36.719 +4.425s 24 20 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:36.939 +4.645s 28 21 34 Alfonso Celis Force India 1:37.287 +4.993s 23 22 88 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:37.714 +5.420s 27
