Max third quickest on Friday: 'Positive day'

Published on 11 May 2018 by Stefan Meens

After P4 in the opening session of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, Max Verstappen ended FP2 as third fastest. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was quickest around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, ahead of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo.

“It was a positive day”, said Max after FP2. “The works pretty well around here, but you can always improve. Today we didn’t have a lot of issues and in the long runs we were pretty competitive.”

Max seems therefore happy with the updates the team have brought to Spain: “I always want more and want to go faster so it’s never enough!”

Romain Grosjean is the first driver out on track and coincidentally the first driver to cause a virtual safety car by going off track at turn 7 in his Haas. Once the circuit is cleared, Max heads out for his first run. After clocking some laps on the soft Pirellis, the Dutchman switches to the super-soft compound utilizing the extra grip to improve his lap time.

In the final half an hour, the teams traditionally turn their focus on Sunday’s race. Max is able to post quicker times during his race simulation than his Mercedes and Ferrari rivals. He is also able to run the super-soft tyres longer then the Mercedes. Halfway into his race sim, Max switches to the soft Pirellis to finish the day’s running.

Meanwhile, Sergio Perez causes a virtual safety car; the front wheel on his Force India comes lose in the second sector prompting the Mexican to stop. Another driver hit by misfortune is Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn has to nurse his Ferrari back to garage after an apparent blow up in/around the power-unit.

In the closing minutes, both Max and Vettel run wide in turn one, but both drivers are able to return to team without damage. It marks the end of a competitve session for Red Bull Racing.

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Results second free practice Spain: