Max fourth in Bahrain’s second free practice: “It looks positive”
Published on 01 April 2016 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen started the Friday in Bahrain excellently. After finishing in eighth during the first free practice, the 18-year old Formula 1-driver positioned himself quite neatly in fourth in the second practice. Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were, once again, flawless and were a second up on Jenson Button (McLaren) in their Mercedes. Max was able to stay ahead of Kimi Raikkonen (P5) and Sebastian Vettel (P6) in their Ferrari’s.
“This is a good start of the weekend”, as Max starts talking to Verstappen.nl. “The track conditions were different now and of course we need to improve many things, but it is definitely a good start. We were able to run and work on the set-up of the car, so that is very positive.” Does the Bahrain track suit the STR11 as well? “It’s going well now, but we are trying to stay grounded because we do not know what others have tested. We will need to keep improving, just like the others. But for now, it definitely looks positive.”
After the usual installation lap, to test all the systems on the car, Max drives his first stint on the soft compound tyre. He is fast from the word go and when, after fifteen minutes, he is back in the pits, he has driven the fourth time (1:34.048) in five laps.
As the sun slowly sets in Sakhir, Toro Rosso straps on a set of supersoft tyres, enabling Max to improve to a 1:32.406. Which proves to be, at the end of the session, his fastest time, earning him the fourth spot when the flag drops.
With still half an hour to go, the youngster focuses on the race set-up: on used tyres he does a long stint, interrupted twice by a virtual safety car. The first time because Vettel parks his Ferrari alongside the track due to a loose wheel nut and moments later because Romain Grosjean wrecks his front wing on the kerbstones. A brave marshall ventures out to clean up the debris of the Haas VF-16 from the asphalt.
Max finishes his long run to his own satisfaction and in the closing stages of the one and a half hour lasting second free practice, Toro Rosso gets about practicing pit stops. The third and final practice is on Saturday at 14.00 hrs. Dutch time.
Bahrain Grand Prix - Bahrain International Circuit - Friday 1 April:
RESULTS FP2 P No Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:31.001 38 2 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.242 +0.241s 32 3 22 Jenson Button McLaren 1:32.281 +1.280s 32 4 33 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:32.406 +1.405s 31 5 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:32.452 +1.451s 38 6 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:32.650 +1.649s 26 7 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:32.703 +1.702s 34 8 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:32.792 +1.791s 39 9 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:32.870 +1.869s 23 10 19 Felipe Massa Williams 1:32.873 +1.872s 36 11 47 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:32.999 +1.998s 30 12 21 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:33.129 +2.128s 31 13 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:33.177 +2.176s 36 14 8 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:33.384 +2.383s 23 15 11 Sergio Perez Force India 1:33.406 +2.405s 35 16 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:33.447 +2.446s 34 17 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:33.570 +2.569s 37 18 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:33.640 +2.639s 35 19 94 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:33.953 +2.952s 21 20 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:34.224 +3.223s 31 21 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:34.477 +3.476s 34 22 88 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:34.562 +3.561s 33
