Max fifth fastest in Baku qualifying: “Could have been third”

Published on 24 June 2017 by Mike Motilall

Despite a gearbox issue, Max Verstappen finished fifth fastest after qualifying for the Azerbaijani Grand Prix. In the closing stages of qualifying, which was very exciting, Mercedes driving Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas both took the first row, ahead of Ferrari running Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.

“In the second sector, I lost the ‘gear sync’, which caused gear shifting to be slower. That cost me at least two tenths on the straight”, says Max regarding his final run. “That is very disappointing, every time there is something wrong. In Q2, my engine was having issues every time I got close to the limiter and in the third practice I came to a standstill due to a hydraulic issue: something was broken in the engine.”

“Although we didn’t quite get the tyres up to temperature in the first sector, qualifying was actually pretty good. It worked out also in my final run and I bettered my lap time by three tenths. But when the ‘gear sync’ was gone, I lost that time. That’s far from ideal because I could have been third. That would have been super on this circuit.”

Looking ahead at the race, Max says: “In the race, the car is good and we are not very far away from our competitors. Mercedes will be difficult to catch, but we can bring the fight to Ferrari.”

When the first part of qualifying gets underway, everyone is on the super softs. Max is fast from the word go and does a 1:42.860, he even betters that by two tenths. Only Hamilton blows that time out of the water by five tenths and sends Max off to Q2 in second. First drop outs are Palmer, who didn’t take part in qualifying, Vandoorne, Ericsson, Grosjean and Alonso.

Max is making tracks in the second part of quali as well: the Dutchman is using all the available tarmac at his disposal and steers his RB13 around the narrow track of the Baku street circuit, just millimeters away from the guardrails. When Hamilton sets a new benchmark of a 1:41.275, putting him eight tenths up, Max is second with a 1:41.961. But Vettel and Bottas relegate him to fourth as they bettered that time. Dropouts are Wehrlein, Hulkenberg, Magnussen and the Toro Rosso running Sainz and Kvyat.

The remaining ten drivers fighting for pole, are all seen making small errors on track. Bottas is the first to brush the wall, but the Fin is able to continue on without a hitch. Both Ferrari’s have a moment in the first corner and even Perez has a major one: he severly brushes the wall. Mercedes keeps setting the tone with Bottas and Hamilton in the lead. With still three and a half minutes remaining, Max maximizes his time with a 1:41.879 and is third, by then Daniel Ricciardo has hit the wall. He loses the rear and becomes a passenger of his car; this brings out the red flag.

When the lights turn green, Max is the first to head out on track. Unfortunately the Dutchman fails to better his lap time, as oppose to Mercedes and Ferrari. Hamilton snatches pole with a 1:40.593 ahead of Mercedes team mate Bottas. The Ferrari’s are barely faster than Verstappen and take the second row. Max will start the Azerbaijani Grand Prix in fifth with Perez (Force India) next to him. Ricciardo will start from P10.

Azerbeidjan Grand Prix - Baku - Saturday 24 June

RESULTS QUALIFYING

01 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:41.983 1:41.275 1:40.593 20
02 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                    1:43.026 1:41.502 1:41.027 23
03  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:42.678 1:42.090 1:41.693 23
04  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:42.952 1:41.911 1:41.841 23
05 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:42.544 1:41.961 1:41.879 22
06 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:43.162 1:42.467 1:42.111 21
07 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes        1:43.051 1:42.751 1:42.186 21
08 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes           1:43.613 1:42.284 1:42.753 21
09 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:43.165 1:42.735 1:42.798 22
10  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:42.857 1:42.215 1:43.414 20
11 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso                  1:42.927 1:43.186          19
12 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                  1:43.489 1:43.347          20
13 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari                1:44.029 1:43.796          18
14 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                     1:43.930 1:44.267          12
15 94 Pascal Wehrlein     Sauber Ferrari              1:44.317 1:44.603          18
16 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:44.334                   9
17  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:44.468                   10
18  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:44.795                   10
19  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda               1:45.030                   8

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