Max fourth in FP2: "Happy with today."

Published on 26 May 2016 by Stefan Meens

After a fifth place in FP1, Max Verstappen finished the second free practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix in fourth. His Red Bull Racing team mate Daniel Ricciardo was fastest, followed by the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

“I think we can be happy with today”, said Max to Verstappen.nl. “The speed is there and I have a good feeling in the car. We took it easy and didn’t end the wall. That’s the main thing on a day like today.”

Nevertheless, Max is striving to improve. “We need to keep working on the balance and I still want to have a bit more confidence in the car. But at least we are close to the Mercedes, which is a good sign. We’ll try to improve the car and see what happens the rest of the weekend.”

The first free practice session could be labelled as eventful and FP2 continued that trend. A couple of minutes into the session, Romain Grosjean smashes into the barriers in the run down to the chicane after exiting the tunnel. Although the Haas driver is able to nurse his car back to the pits, a virtual safety car is called.

After the track is cleared, Max puts in his first flying laps of the session. He clocks a 1:15.571, his quickest time of the day, granting him fourth at the very end.

The run to the chicane proves tricky. For Rio Haryanto, FP2 ends in the barrier after he loses control of his Manor. Again, a virtual safety car is used to control the situation.

With 45 minutes to go, Max heads out on the Pirelli’s ultra-soft compound. Right in the middle of Dutchman’s flying lap, Sebastian Vettel spins into the barrier a Mirabeau. The German is able to head back to the pits but it means Max had to abort his flying lap. The session is then once more halted. This time it is Kevin Magnussen. The Dane parks his Renault in the wall in the last corner before the start finish straight.

The last part of the training, Max ventures on several long runs to prepare for the race. His team mate Ricciardo, who has the new TAG Heur power unit in the back of his RB12, tops the table throughout most of FP2 and finishes on top. It appears that the engine upgrade, available to Max in Canada, gives Red Bull more power and track time.

Monaco Grand Prix - Monte Carlo - Thursday 26 May

 RESULTS FREE PRACTICE 2
 P No Driver             Team          Time       Gap       Laps 
 1  3 Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull      1:14.607             39 
 2 44 Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes      1:15.213   +0.606s   35 
 3  6 Nico Rosberg       Mercedes      1:15.506   +0.899s   47 
 4 33 Max Verstappen     Red Bull      1:15.571   +0.964s   41 
 5 26 Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso    1:15.815   +1.208s   52 
 6 55 Carlos Sainz       Toro Rosso    1:15.981   +1.374s   53 
 7  7 Kimi Räikkönen     Ferrari       1:16.040   +1.433s   37 
 8 11 Sergio Perez       Force India   1:16.120   +1.513s   47 
 9  5 Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari       1:16.269   +1.662s   39 
10 22 Jenson Button      McLaren       1:16.325   +1.718s   45 
11 27 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India   1:16.487   +1.880s   48 
12 14 Fernando Alonso    McLaren       1:16.723   +2.116s   42 
13 21 Esteban Gutierrez  Haas          1:16.782   +2.175s   40 
14 77 Valtteri Bottas    Williams      1:16.849   +2.242s   46 
15  8 Romain Grosjean    Haas          1:16.874   +2.267s   22 
16 19 Felipe Massa       Williams      1:17.286   +2.679s   41 
17 20 Kevin Magnussen    Renault       1:17.530   +2.923s   29 
18  9 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber        1:17.562   +2.955s   38 
19 30 Jolyon Palmer      Renault       1:17.761   +3.154s   23 
20 12 Felipe Nasr        Sauber        1:17.999   +3.392s   48 
21 88 Rio Haryanto       Manor         1:18.647   +4.040s   10 
22 94 Pascal Wehrlein    Manor         1:18.814   +4.207s   45

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