Max starting from P21 in Monaco: “Turned in too early”

Published on 28 May 2016 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen will be starting from the last row in the Monaco Grand Prix. On the 3,3340 meters long and winding circuit in Monte Carlo, the 18-year-old Dutchman hit the guard rail quite severely in Q1, ending his qualifying run. Team mate Daniel Ricciardo finished on pole for the first time ever in his career. Next to him will be Mercedes-driver Nico Rosberg, also on the front row. His team mate Lewis Hamilton came in third.

“Maybe I overestimated the level of grip I had”, a deeply disappointed Max informs Verstappen.nl after qualifying. “I felt ok and was not really on the limit yet. My second sector was also coming together, but then I turned in too early, hit the guard rail and then you can’t do anything more, a miscalculation. We need to learn from this and look forward. Hopefully the weather will help a bit and we’ll have some luck on Sunday, but it’s going to be difficult.”

Prior to qualifying, there is some bad news for Kimi Raikkonen. His mechanics have had to change his gear box, which means that the Fin will be dropped five places after qualifying. The front of the field was close together, during the third free practice, so the fight for pole promises to be a real battle.

When Q1 gets underway, there is some overcast in Monaco. However, locally it gets pretty cloudy as Felipe Nasr’s Ferrari-engine in his Sauber blows up during the first lap. Triggering a code red and resulting in him being the first to drop out in this qualifying.

After a few minutes, the pack is let loose again. Both cars from Haas F1 are the first to get a time on the clocks. The two Red Bull Racing cars are, at that moment, still inside and are aiming to do one run. Ricciardo clocks the fourth time during his first run, as Max is getting warmed up. When Max eventually gets his head down for his fast lap, he hits the barriers with his right front tyre at Piscine, breaking his suspension and sending him straight into the wall. He also triggers a code red.

Apart from Nasr, who retired earlier on in Q1, other drop outs are: both Manors, Jolyon Palmer in his Renault, Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson and Max Verstappen.

In Q2, we see Hamilton at the front of the field followed by Ricciardo. Miraculously, everyone keep their nose clean. Red Bull Racing has had Ricciardo clock his time on the super soft tyres, putting him on a different strategy for the race. Both Williams’ and Haas F1, Kevin Magnussen for Renault and McLaren’s Jenson Button are the drop outs in Q2.

At the start of Q3, Lewis Hamilton’s engine stalls at the end of the pit lane. His car is pushed back to the pit box. In the mean time, Ricciardo is the first of the front runners to clock the fastest time. Resulting in everyone trying to beat the Ossie’s time during their first run. By now, Mercedes has been able to get Hamilton’s car running again, but it appears that it’s not much more than that.

During their second run, nobody is able to beat Ricciardo’s, first ever, pole position time. Rosberg finishes in P2 while his team mate is still able to claim the third spot.

Monaco Grand Prix - Monte Carlo - Saturday 28 May

 RESULTS QUALIFYING
 P No Driver             Team          Q1       Q2       Q3     Laps
 1  3 Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull      1:14.912 1:14.357 1:13.622 21
 2  6 Nico Rosberg       Mercedes      1:14.873 1:14.043 1:13.791 24
 3 44 Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes      1:14.826 1:14.056 1:13.942 21
 4  5 Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari       1:14.610 1:14.318 1:14.552 23
 5 27 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India   1:15.333 1:14.989 1:14.726 25
 6  7 Kimi Räikkönen     Ferrari       1:15.499 1:14.789 1:14.732 25
 7 55 Carlos Sainz       Toro Rosso    1:15.467 1:14.805 1:14.749 23
 8 11 Sergio Perez       Force India   1:15.328 1:14.937 1:14.902 28
 9 26 Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso    1:15.384 1:14.794 1:15.273 23
10 14 Fernando Alonso    McLaren       1:15.504 1:15.107 1:15.363 26
11 77 Valtteri Bottas    Williams      1:15.521 1:15.273          15
12 21 Esteban Gutierrez  Haas          1:15.592 1:15.293          22
13 22 Jenson Button      McLaren       1:15.554 1:15.352          15
14 19 Felipe Massa       Williams      1:15.710 1:15.385          19
15  8 Romain Grosjean    Haas          1:15.465 1:15.571          22
16 20 Kevin Magnussen    Renault       1:16.253 1:16.058          22
17  9 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber        1:16.299                   12
18 30 Jolyon Palmer      Renault       1:16.586                   12
19 88 Rio Haryanto       Manor         1:17.295                   12
20 94 Pascal Wehrlein    Manor         1:17.452                   12
NC 33 Max Verstappen     Red Bull      1:22.467                    3
RT 12 Felipe Nasr        Sauber                                    1

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