Max starts Monaco weekend with P5

Published on 26 May 2016 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen kicked of his Monaco Grand Prix weekend with a fifth place in FP1. Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the streets of Monte Carlo, ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth, only seven hundreds of a second quicker than his Dutch team mate in an eventful first session.

In the opening stages of practice, most drivers head out on the supersofts on a still green and dusty track. Max starts well, continuing to improve himself lap after lap as the circuit gets faster. After half an hour, the youngster sits in third with a 1:17.1.

Meanwhile, Felipe Massa causes the first virtual safety car of the day after crashing his Williams at St. Devot. At the very front it is the Mercedes that set the pace, despite Hamilton going straight ahead at the first corner. It is a small mistake that is imitated by Sauber’s Felipe Nasr and Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat.

In the final 30 minutes, Max’s pit crew bolt on the ultra softs. The Dutchman improves his time (1:16.371), propelling him to third. Vettel and Ricciardo post quicker times on their ultra soft runs and demote Max to fifth.

In the meantime, Jolyon Palmer crashed his Renault at Tabac. Additionally, Esteban Gutierrez parks his Haas at Portier after technical issues. A virtual safety car is the result of both incidents.

With five minutes on the clock, the session is red-flagged and not restarted. Jenson Button has shattered his front wing after hitting a manhole cover. The metal cover was thrown up in the air after the downforce of Nico Rosberg’s car dislodged it. The incident marks the end of an eventful session.

Monaco Grand Prix - Monte Carlo - Thursday 26 May

 RESULTS FREE PRACTICE 1
 P No Driver             Team          Time       Gap      Laps 
 1 44 Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes      1:15.537             31 
 2  6 Nico Rosberg       Mercedes      1:15.638   +0.101s   39 
 3  5 Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari       1:15.956   +0.419s   26 
 4  3 Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull      1:16.308   +0.771s   29 
 5 33 Max Verstappen     Red Bull      1:16.371   +0.834s   30 
 6 26 Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso    1:16.426   +0.889s   37 
 7 27 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India   1:16.560   +1.023s   34 
 8 11 Sergio Perez       Force India   1:16.697   +1.160s   28 
 9  7 Kimi Räikkönen     Ferrari       1:16.912   +1.375s   24 
10 55 Carlos Sainz       Toro Rosso    1:17.130   +1.593s   39 
11 77 Valtteri Bottas    Williams      1:17.562   +2.025s   44 
12  8 Romain Grosjean    Haas          1:17.599   +2.062s   33 
13 14 Fernando Alonso    McLaren       1:17.838   +2.301s   27 
14 21 Esteban Gutierrez  Haas          1:17.909   +2.372s   25 
15 22 Jenson Button      McLaren       1:17.920   +2.383s   26 
16 12 Felipe Nasr        Sauber        1:18.187   +2.650s   29 
17 20 Kevin Magnussen    Renault       1:18.274   +2.737s   34 
18  9 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber        1:18.301   +2.764s   33 
19 19 Felipe Massa       Williams      1:18.746   +3.209s   10 
20 30 Jolyon Palmer      Renault       1:18.871   +3.334s   22 
21 88 Rio Haryanto       Manor         1:20.528   +4.991s   28 
22 94 Pascal Wehrlein    Manor         1:20.868   +5.331s   25

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