Max fifth in final Austria free practice

Published on 02 July 2016 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen finished the final practice session of the Austrian Grand Prix in fifth. The Dutchman lapped the Red Bull Ring 21 times in a session that was marked by a heavy crash of champions leader Nico Rosberg. The Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen clocked the quickest times with Rosberg's Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton completing the top three.

Unlike Friday, FP3 is driven on a dry track with the sun beaming onto the Alpine circuit. The excellent track Meanwhile, Max clocks encouraging lap times on the ultra-soft Pirellis, with a 1:07.8 during his first stint.

After a return to the pits, Max heads out for another run on a new set of ultra-softs with 30 minutes on the clock. The Dutchman improves on his earlier efforts by clocking his fastest lap of the session (1:07.761).

With most team preparing for qualifying, the drivers are looking for the limit. Nico Rosberg finds and goes over his and his Merc. The German goes wide a turn 2, before hitting the barrier and spinning a couple of times and coming to a stand still on the middle of the track. Replays show Rosberg's rear suspension snapping on the exit kerb of turn 2.

The session is red flagged but restarted with little over twelve minutes on the clock. Max heads out on a set of used ultra-soft Pirellis but does not manage to improve his lap time, thus finishing the session in fifth. Team mate Daniel Ricciardo finishes fourth behind the top three consisting of both Ferraris and world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Austrian Grand Prix - Red Bull Ring - Saturday 2 July 

RESULTS FREE PRACTICE 3

01  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:07.098             19
02  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:07.234   +0.136s   25
03 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:07.308   +0.210s   19
04  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:07.639   +0.541s   22
05 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:07.761   +0.663s   21
06 77 Valtteri Bottas     Williams Mercedes           1:07.814   +0.716s   22
07 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:07.831   +0.733s   27
08 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Force India Mercedes        1:08.285   +1.187s   22
09 22 Jenson Button       McLaren Honda               1:08.304   +1.206s   18
10 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:08.327   +1.229s   17
11 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:08.442   +1.344s   25
12 21 Esteban Gutierrez   Haas Ferrari                1:08.475   +1.377s   22
13 94 Pascal Wehrlein     MRT Mercedes                1:08.534   +1.436s   28
14  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:08.550   +1.452s   20
15 20 Kevin Magnussen     Renault                     1:08.569   +1.471s   31
16 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:08.786   +1.688s   32
17 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:08.939   +1.841s   27
18 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:09.008   +1.910s   11
19 88 Rio Haryanto        MRT Mercedes                1:09.116   +2.018s   28
20  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:09.137   +2.039s   25
21 12 Felipe Nasr         Sauber Ferrari              1:09.557   +2.459s   19
22  6 Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                    1:10.959   +3.861s   16

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