Max fifth in FP2: "Working on better balance"
Published on 14 July 2017 by Stefan Meens
Max Verstappen set the fifth fastest time in the second free practice session of the British Grand Prix. Mercedes led the way, like in FP1, with Valtteri Bottas quickest, followed by team mate Lewis Hamilton. The Ferraris of KimI Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel occupied third and fourth, followed by the two Red Bulls.
“Today I did not have any technical issues, but we weren’t fast enough”, explained Max post FP2. “I’m not totally happy with the balance of the car. We still have some work to do, but fifth was the maximum today.”
We do not see Max on track until a quarter of an hour into the session. He heads out on a set of softs for his first timed run. His first observations to the team are complaints of understeer.
At the halfway mark, Max switches to the super-soft tyres before using the final half an hour for long runs. A couple of laps into his long stint, he loses control of his RB13, but after a short trip though the grass, he’s back on track.
Meanwhile, other drivers have also experienced minor off-track excursions with Felipe Massa (Williams) spinning at high speed and Raikkonen ending up in the gravel. Luckily both drivers can resume the session without issues. Carlos Sainz was less lucky. The Scuderia Toro Rosso driver glides through the Silverstone grass, with a damaged floor as a result. After a floor change the Spaniard can resume his session.
In the closing stages, Max and Massa have an on track dice. Max is closing in on the Brazilian but the Williams driver appears not to see the Dutchman an ignores the blue flags. As Max tries to overtake the Brazilian, the latter shuts the door. The Red Bull youngster has to take evasive action to avoid a collision. In the end, FIA investigated the situation but no further action was taken.”
British Grand Prix - Silverstone - Friday 14 July 2017
FREE PRACTICE 2 RESULTS 01 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:28.496 31 02 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:28.543 +0.047s 35 03 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:28.828 +0.332s 36 04 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:28.956 +0.460s 36 05 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:29.098 +0.602s 32 06 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:29.586 +1.090s 35 07 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:29.936 +1.440s 37 08 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:30.006 +1.510s 36 09 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:30.238 +1.742s 28 10 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1:30.383 +1.887s 42 11 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:30.555 +2.059s 26 12 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:30.562 +2.066s 34 13 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:30.624 +2.128s 43 14 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:30.661 +2.165s 33 15 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:30.695 +2.199s 37 16 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1:30.782 +2.286s 31 17 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:30.835 +2.339s 33 18 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:30.879 +2.383s 25 19 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:31.616 +3.120s 27 20 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1:31.929 +3.433s 30
