Max fifth in Turkey FP2: 'Not the best day'

Published on 08 October 2021 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen finished Friday practice of the Turkish Grand Prix in fifth. Lewis Hamilton was quickest in his Mercedes, followed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Hamilton’s team mate Valtteri Bottas.

“We tried some different things compared to FP1”, explained Max after the afternoon session. “But FP1 wasn’t that great either. We’re having a bit of a look what to do.”

He added: “It’s a bit different around here. We don’t have a lot of data on this circuit with these cars. We’ve got a busy evening ahead of us to improve it all, as today wasn’t a great day. But the track is great in these conditions.”

Looking ahead to the remainder of the weekend, Max concluded: “Hopefully we can improve, otherwise it’s not looking good. But we’ll see what we can do tomorrow. We have to focus on ourselves after not so great a day, so we’ll get to work.”

At the start of second practice, it is busy from the moment the pit lane opens; within two minutes, all drivers are out on track collecting valuable data.

Nicolas Latifi is the first driver to cause a yellow flag by spinning his Williams in turn nine, quickly followed by Carlos Sainz going off-piste at turn one. Both drivers can continue without any damage.

Twenty minutes into the session, it is time for qualifying simulations. Similar to the morning session, it is Hamilton who sets the pace. Max is able to improve his lap time on both his flying lap, but P5 is his highest position on the leader boards he occupies.

With only a quarter of an hour remaining, Max heads out on a set of mediums that he used at the start of the session. It indicates that he, like the rest of the grid, has now turned the focus on race simulations.

In the closing stages, several drivers go over the limit; Max has a moment in turn seven, Pierre Gasly goes off-track at turn six, Nikita Mazepin leaves the circuit at turn eight and Nicolas Latifi rounds out the day’s action with a moment at turn nine. 

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Results second free practice Turkey: