Max opens Brazilian race weekend second fastest

Published on 12 November 2021 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen finished the first free practice in the run-up to the Brazilian Grand Prix second fastest. Mercedes running Lewis Hamilton topped the board. Max´ team mate at Red Bull Racing Honda, Sergio Perez, came in third. Valtteri Bottas´ Mercedes and Carlos Sainz´ Ferrari both rounded out the top five.

At the start of the first free practice the weather is cloudy and the ambient temperature is 18 degrees, there is even a great chance for some rain today. This session has a 60% chance of rain. Due to the fact that there is a sprint race today there is only one practice session for the drivers. Later on there will be a qualifying session for the sprint race which will be held on Saturday.

When the lights turn green at the end of the pitlane, the track is immediately crowded. Even Max is very early out and about. The Dutch ace has a new helmet for the Brazilian Grand Prix, as an artistic tribute to the Brazilian passion for Formula 1. Let´s hope that the signs will not deceive as he won every race this year at which he wore a special edition of his helmet.

Max ventures out on a set of the medium compound tyres. Except for Williams, every single car is out on track. His first flying lap puts Verstappen immediately on P1, ahead of his team mate Perez. Meanwhile the FIA have confirmed that Hamilton, due to a grid-penalty, will be handed a five-place drop for the race on Sunday. Max keeps improving his time and immediately gives a statement of intent. Bottas trails at 1,3 seconds. Hamilton is in the mean time still not happy with the feeling in his car. ´The front end is really poor´, is what he reports to his team.

After fifteen minutes we hear Hamilton again on the radio: ´Please come up with another solution for the front suspension´, indicating that the adjustments to his Mercedes are not to his satisfaction. By now Max is in the pits and Bottas reports a few rain drops falling. Even Lance Stroll reports drizzling. After well over twenty minutes Max is P1, Perez P2 and Hamilton is third fastest.

Halfway the session Max is still inside and Hamilton is still complaining: ´The fronts bouncing across the track´. George Russel reports that it´s started to rain even harder which is evident by the amount of cars on track. Only Hamilton, Esteban Ocon and Landon Norris are still out on track, the rest has gone back in.

While the Mercedes-drivers are in the pits, Max and Perez have gone back out again. Both have mounted a set of the softs on to their cars and appear to be preparing themselves for the qualifying session later on today. Max betters his time once more and Perez slots in at seven hundredths of a second. The competition is left trailing at well over three quarters of a second.

That turns into a little less than half a second the moment Bottas does his first flying lap on a new set of the softs. With well over fifteen minutes remaining on the clock, Hamilton has also ventured out on a set of the softs. The reigning world champion has dropped to P13 by now. At the end of his flying lap he is short three tenths on Max´ Red Bull and slots in in third behind of Perez. Moments later he pulls it off, albeit with the help of a slipstream, as he beat the time set by Max and snatches P1.

In the closing stages, both Red Bulls have been on track on a scrubbed set of soft tyres. The Red Bulls show no more improvements while Perez and Max appear to have gone out with a good amount of fuel in order to simulate the race. Hamilton betters his time once more and with that the first practice session comes to an end.

Contest Brazilian GP: win a by Max Verstappen signed orange RBR Driver Cap 2021!

Results first free practice Brazil: