Max opens Canadian GP weekend with P4

Published on 10 June 2016 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen started his Canadian well with a fourth place in FP1. The Dutchman lapped the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 29 times. His 1:15.553 was the quickest lap on the soft Pirelli compound. Lewis Hamilton beat Mercedes colleague Nico Rosberg to the top spot with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finishing the first session in third.

The opening fifteen minutes go by quietly with little on-track action. When finally the first flying laps are appearing on the board, the session is red flagged. Felipe Massa has lost his Williams braking into the first corner. 

The Brazilian veteran spins and hits the barriers with the rear of his car. The Williams is heavily damaged but Massa walks away unharmed. After investigating the root of the incident, Williams confirmed a faulty DRS caused Massa’s crash.

With fifty minutes remaining, the session resumes. Max impresses with his quick lap times as most of the other drivers opt to run the super-soft and ultra-soft tyres, whereas the 18-year-old uses the softs. At the very front it was business as usual with the Mercedes setting the pace. Max’s team mate Daniel Ricciardo finished in eleventh.

Results first free practice Canadian GP:

01 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:14.755          22
02  6 Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                    1:15.086 +0.331s  30
03  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:15.243 +0.488s  22
04 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:15.553 +0.798s  29
05  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:15.618 +0.863s  23
06 77 Valtteri Bottas     Williams Mercedes           1:16.301 +1.546s  30
07 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Force India Mercedes        1:16.464 +1.709s  24
08 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:16.543 +1.788s  21
09 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:16.577 +1.822s  25
10 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:16.663 +1.908s  18
11  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:16.734 +1.979s  28
12 22 Jenson Button       McLaren Honda               1:16.788 +2.033s  8
13  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:17.008 +2.253s  22
14 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:17.065 +2.310s  7
15 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:17.310 +2.555s  24
16 21 Esteban Gutierrez   Haas Ferrari                1:17.319 +2.564s  24
17 12 Felipe Nasr         Sauber Ferrari              1:17.855 +3.100s  21
18 88 Rio Haryanto        MRT Mercedes                1:18.103 +3.348s  21
19  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:18.129 +3.374s  8
20 20 Kevin Magnussen     Renault                     1:18.409 +3.654s  13
21 94 Pascal Wehrlein     MRT Mercedes                1:18.453 +3.698s  30
22 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:18.583 +3.828s  28

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