Max pips team mate to fourth in final Barcelona practice

Published on 14 May 2016 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen was fourth quickest in the final free practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix. It was the first time the Dutchman was quicker than Daniel Ricciardo, who finished fifth in his Red Bull Racing. Max's fastest lap, 1:23.719, was six tenths slower than fastest man Nico Rosberg who beat team mate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to the quickest time.

As expected, there is not a lot of on track action at the start of FP3. Most teams are preparing for a long run and are finalizing prep for a qualifying simulation near the end of the session. With the track conditions similar to Friday, it means the team are not making any drastic set-up changes.

It takes almost half an hour before we see Max on track. He does a couple of flying laps on a set of soft Pirellis before embarking on a qualifying simulation with ten minutes to go. Both Red Bulls show good pace with initially Daniel Ricciardo claiming P3 before Max laps the de Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya a tenth faster.

In the end, Sebastian Vettel squeezes his Ferrari between the Mercedes and Red Bulls to grab third, demoting Max to fourth and Ricciardo to fifth. Championship leaders Rosberg and Hamilton continue to top the timing tables with the German setting the pace.

Spanish Grand Prix - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - Saturday 14 May

RESULTS FREE PRACTICE 3 
P No Driver             Team          Time        Gap       Laps
 1  6 Nico Rosberg       Mercedes      1:23.078             15
 2 44 Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes      1:23.204   +0.126s   11
 3  5 Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari       1:23.225   +0.147s   16
 4 33 Max Verstappen     Red Bull      1:23.719   +0.641s   10
 5  3 Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull      1:23.816   +0.738s    9
 6  7 Kimi Räikkönen     Ferrari       1:24.110   +1.032s   13
 7 77 Valtteri Bottas    Williams      1:24.356   +1.278s   14
 8 11 Sergio Perez       Force India   1:24.472   +1.394s   15
 9 26 Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso    1:24.553   +1.475s   13
10 14 Fernando Alonso    McLaren       1:24.555   +1.477s   13
11 27 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India   1:24.585   +1.507s   15
12 19 Felipe Massa       Williams      1:24.621   +1.543s   15
13 55 Carlos Sainz       Toro Rosso    1:24.695   +1.617s   21
14  8 Romain Grosjean    Haas          1:24.981   +1.903s   13
15 22 Jenson Button      McLaren       1:25.051   +1.973s   13
16 20 Kevin Magnussen    Renault       1:25.100   +2.022s   12
17 21 Esteban Gutierrez  Haas          1:25.130   +2.052s   17
18 30 Jolyon Palmer      Renault       1:25.376   +2.298s   13
19 12 Felipe Nasr        Sauber        1:25.383   +2.305s   22
20  9 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber        1:25.401   +2.323s   24
21 94 Pascal Wehrlein    Manor         1:26.097   +3.019s   13
22 88 Rio Haryanto       Manor         1:26.251   +3.173s   19 

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