Max qualifies sixth in Bahrain: "Disappointing"
Published on 15 April 2017 by Stefan Meens
Max Verstappen qualified in sixth for the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas took the first pole position of his career in his third race for Mercedes. His team mate Lewis Hamilton was second ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Max’ team mate Daniel Ricciardo completes the second row of the grid with Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) starting fifth.
P6 is a disappointing result for Max: “Everyone prepares for the final corner and then Massa just flies by. It meant I had to stay in first gear a while to create a gap again. That meant my tyres were very cold because we already do a slow outlap. It’s really frustrating that everything went well until the last run, when it actually matters as the track is constantly getting quicker. To be disadvantaged this much in the last corner, I guess that’s part of it. We’ll see what happens tomorrow in the race.”
The gap to pole sitter Bottas is almost a second. “Even though it’s a lot better than the previous races, eight, nine tenths is still too much. But we know that Mercedes and Ferrari turn up their engines in the final run. That adds something.”
Q1 is business as usual; Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing comfortably progress. Carlos Sainz, Stoffel Vandoorne, Sergio Perez, Marcus Ericsson and Kevin Magnussen all strand in the first part of qualifying.
Q2 is off to a busy start with most drivers out to set a time. Mercedes sets the pace with the Red Bulls in fifth and sixth. Fernando Alonso is the only driver not clocking a lap. His McLaren is stuck in the garage with technical issues. It results in Q2 being the Spaniard’s final qualifying session of the day. Others that do not make Q3 are Daniil Kvyat, Lance Stroll, Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon.
In the final part of qualifying, the Red Bulls are the first cars to set a time. Max’ is quickest of the two by three tenths. However, during their second run, Ricciardo takes the advantage. The Australian qualifies in P4 with Max trailing a tenth in sixth.
Bahrain Grand Prix - Bahrain International Circuit - Saturday 15 April
01 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:31.041 1:29.555 1:28.769 12 02 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.814 1:29.535 1:28.792 13 03 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:31.037 1:29.596 1:29.247 12 04 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:31.667 1:30.497 1:29.545 12 05 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:30.988 1:29.843 1:29.567 16 06 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:30.904 1:30.307 1:29.687 12 07 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:31.057 1:30.169 1:29.842 15 08 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:31.373 1:30.677 1:30.074 12 09 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:31.691 1:30.857 1:30.763 16 10 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:31.458 1:30.899 1:31.074 15 11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:31.531 1:30.923 12 12 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:31.748 1:31.168 12 13 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1:31.995 1:31.414 15 14 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1:31.774 1:31.684 12 15 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:32.054 8 16 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:32.118 5 17 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1:32.313 8 18 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:32.318 7 19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:32.543 9 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:32.900 8
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