Max starts Baku Grand Prix from P9: "Disappointing quali"

Published on 18 June 2016 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen will start the first European Grand Prix held in the streets of Baku from ninth place. Nico Rosberg claimed pole position after Lewis Hamilton parked his Mercedes in the wall. Sergio Perez qualified in second followed by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.

“Until the red flag (Hamilton's crash) came out, I was on my way to third”, explains a disappointed Max after quali. “After the red flag it went wrong again because Bottas, like he did in Q2, tried to overtake me into the first corner. It's just so dumb. We both lose our laps, and it happened twice. We should have been close to Ricciardo so I'm really disappointed to start from ninth. But luckily there's plenty of opportunity to overtake here so full throttle ahead!”

Apart from Jenson Button not making the cut, Q1 does not throw many surprises with both Renaults, Manors and Marcus Ericsson not going to Q2.

The second part of qualifying sees everyone, like the first session, go out on the super-soft Pirellis. Nico Hulkenberg spins in the last sector but is able to keep his Force India out of the wall. The German continues to hunt for a place in the final part of qualifying but surprisingly misses out, despite the Force Indias showing good pace throughout the weekend.

Other drivers that do not progress are Fernando Alonso, Felipe Nasr, Carlos Sainz and both Haas.

During Max's first flying lap in Q3, Hamilton hits the wall and causes a red flag. Hence, Max has to abort his lap and returns to pits as the only driver without a time on the board. Rosberg, meanwhile, sits in P1, followed by Sergio Perez in the Force India.

At the end of the pit lane, the drivers then line up to get a final timed lap in with just over two minutes on the clock. When the green flag is waved and the circuit is cleared, Daniel Ricciardo is the first out on the circuit. The Australian makes the most of the clear track and qualifies in third behind Rosberg and Perez.

Max is only able to mange P9, after being slowed down by Bottas in the first sector. The Finn tries to overtake the Dutchman into the first corner, thus compromising both drivers' flying lap. A disappointing end to qualifying for the 18-year-old, who is hoping to make up ground in the race.

Daniel Ricciardo will start the race from P2 after Sergio Perez, who qualified in second, serves a five-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change.

European Grand Prix - Baku City Circuit - Saturday 18 June

01  6 Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                    1:43.685   1:42.520   1:42.758   16
02 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:44.462   1:43.939   1:43.515   20
03  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:44.570   1:44.141   1:43.966   20
04  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:45.062   1:44.461   1:43.966   19
05  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:44.936   1:44.533   1:44.269   19
06 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:45.494   1:44.696   1:44.483   15
07 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:44.694   1:44.687   1:44.717   25
08 77 Valtteri Bottas     Williams Mercedes           1:44.706   1:44.477   1:45.246   18
09 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:44.939   1:44.387   1:45.570   20
10 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:44.259   1:43.526   2:01.954   17
11  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:45.507   1:44.755              15
12 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Force India Mercedes        1:44.860   1:44.824              14
13 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:44.827   1:45.000              17
14 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:45.525   1:45.270              15
15 21 Esteban Gutierrez   Haas Ferrari                1:45.300   1:45.349              16
16 12 Felipe Nasr         Sauber Ferrari              1:45.549   1:46.048              13
17 88 Rio Haryanto        MRT Mercedes                1:45.665                          8
18 94 Pascal Wehrlein     MRT Mercedes                1:45.750                          9
19 22 Jenson Button       McLaren Honda               1:45.804                          7
20  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:46.231                         10
21 20 Kevin Magnussen     Renault                     1:46.348                          9
22 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:46.394                          9

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