Max concludes Belgian free practices in fifth

Published on 25 August 2018 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen finished fifth in the final free practice in the run up to the Belgian Grand Prix. On the longest track of the race calendar (7,004 meters), Sebastian Vettel was the quickest in his Ferrari followed by team mate Kimi Raikkonen. Lewis Hamilton brought his Mercedes home in third.

At the start of the final part of free practice, it is relatively cool, some 12 degrees and apart from a drop of drain, dry. There are still some damp spots on the tarmac, but all the drivers head out on slicks. Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber is the first to appear on track with in his wake Romain Grosjean’s Haas. In the openingstages we only see installation laps. The first ones to really go for it are both McLarens.

In the meantime, both Aston Martin Red Bull Racing drivers are also out on track. Daniel Ricciardo and Max both do their installation laps on the medium compound tyre, of which they only have one at their disposal this weekend. After ten minutes, we see both Ferrari’at the front of the field while both Red Bulls are inside. At this point in time there are only six times on the clock.

After twenty minutes, both Mercedes have also made it to the front of the field. Their speed is not yet high enough to demote Raikkonen from first place. By then, on both sides of the Red Bull-garage they are getting ready to head back out on track. Ricciardo will take the lead. Just after the Ozzie has started his first flying lap, Max also heads out on track. Ricciardo puts his RB14 in fifth. Max briefly betters that and takes over the fifth place from his team mate. Ricciardo loses almost a second to the quick Dutchman.

At the front of the field, Raikkonen is calling the shots ahead of Vettel and Hamilton. The top-three, who have done their fastest times on the super-soft tyre, are all within 0,064 second of each other. Max is with a little over a second-and-a-half in fifth. He did his fastest time on the harder compound.

In the closing stages of the third free practice, we still see both Red Bulls with a new set of super-softs head out on track. At that same moment, Vandoorne spins on the Kemmel straight. The Belgian tried to overtake Bottas on the outside, but the Finn never saw him. “What was that Mercedes doing?”, says the unlucky Vandoorne on the radio. The incident will be investigated by the Stewards of the Race. “I didn’t see him”, is the short reply from Bottas on the radio regarding Vandoorne. The session is then red flagged.

With two minutes remaining on the clock, the session is continued. Almost every driver, including Max and Ricciardo, immediately head out. Both Red Bulls make it to the flag in time and are able to do a lap at race pace. Max manages to better his time, but still remains in fith.

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Results third free practice Belgium: