Max in the top ten in Sochi: “Very happy with P9”
Published on 30 April 2016 by Mike Motilall
After Max Verstappen finished in P7 in the third free practice, which took place earlier this Saturday, and by doing so claimed a spot in the top ten, he once again did the same during qualifying alongside the select few drivers who were to do battle for the best starting position in the Russian Grand Prix. The youngster finished in Q3 eventually in the ninth spot. Nico Rosberg, in his Mercedes, was the fastest man on track, followed by Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari. Valtteri Bottas, in his Williams, finished the top three.
“I am very happy we finished in ninth”, Max informs Verstappen.nl straight after qualifying finished. “Especially after a difficult day we had yesterday, I didn’t expect to make it to Q3. The hard work paid out. The balance of the car was much better today. Q1 went reasonably well, but the first lap in Q2 was very good. That enabled us to make it through to Q3. For the last run in Q3 we made some adjustments to the front wing, but that didn’t work out well. We will see how things will go tomorrow.”
When the lights turn green for Q1, there is some overcast in Sochi, but there is no rain. Pascal Wehrlein is the first to get the proceedings going. The German is also the first man to have a time on the clocks followed by Felipe Nasr, who has been given a new chassis as well. In his first run, Max briefly notes the seventh time. As Q3 got underway, he shortly dropped to P14. A fast lap at the end of the session earns him P11, putting him effortlessly in Q2. Drop outs in Q1 are both Manors, both Saubers and both Renaults.
Max is an early bird in Q2 and ventures out on track for his first run, as one of the firsts. His team mate, Carlos Sainz, is the first to note a time. Moments later Max follows and is faster than the Spaniard. He is for a brief moment second. Both Toro Rosso’s head back home after this.
When Max settles down for his second run in Q2, he has been pushed back down to P6. He fails to improve and is eventually in P8. Daniil Kvyat, in an ultimate bid to make it through, dismisses Sainz. Q2 claimed Sainz, both of the Haas and McLaren drivers and Nico Hülkenberg.
At the start of Q3, we see that the mechanics are very busy working on Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. Issues relating to his ERS-system are responsible for him being out of the qualifying session very early on. First one to clock a time is Kimi Raikkonen. Max, initially, stays in and eventually does only a single lap.
On a new set of the super soft compound tyres, Max leaves Sergio Perez behind of him as he takes P8. The Mexican however, settles down, improves and grabs P7. Resulting in Max concluding the qualifying proceedings in P9.
Russian GP - Sochi Autodrom - Saturday 30 April
RESULTS QUALIFYING P No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps 1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:36.119 1:35.337 1:35.417 16 2 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:36.555 1:36.623 1:36.123 16 3 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:37.746 1:37.140 1:36.536 17 4 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.976 1:36.741 1:36.663 17 5 19 Felipe Massa Williams 1:37.753 1:37.230 1:37.016 16 6 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:38.091 1:37.569 1:37.125 22 7 11 Sergio Perez Force India 1:38.006 1:37.282 1:37.212 20 8 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:38.265 1:37.606 1:37.459 22 9 33 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:38.123 1:37.510 1:37.583 20 10 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:36.006 1:35.820 13 11 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:37.784 1:37.652 14 12 22 Jenson Button McLaren 1:38.332 1:37.701 14 13 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:38.562 1:37.771 17 14 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:37.971 1:37.807 14 15 8 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:38.383 1:38.055 16 16 21 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:38.678 1:38.115 18 17 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:38.914 10 18 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:39.009 9 19 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:39.018 10 20 94 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:39.399 10 21 88 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:39.463 10 22 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:39.519 10
