Max quite decently P2 in Montreal

Published on 11 June 2016 by Mike Motilall

After Max Verstappen managed to run with the frontrunners during the first two practice sessions on Friday, the young Red Bull Racing-driver pulled off a P2 finish during the third free practice. On the 4.361 kilometer long Gilles Villeneuve circuit, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was the quickest, followed by Max, who kept Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes at bay. Daniel Ricciardo came in sixth.

At the start of the third practice session, there is a heavy overcast but the weather stays dry. Many drivers immediately head out on track. Max waits a minute and then decides to get on track on a new set of the super softs. Ferrari quickly manages to have both their drivers at the front of the field. Shortly afterwards, we see Max for a brief moment leading the pack. Not much later, it is Ricciardo who takes over.

Max is on a roll and regains the leading position back again. His team mate, not much later, does the exact same time as the youngster, down to the thousandths of a second. This causes both Red Bull Racing-drivers to lead the pack. Some minutes later, Max tops the leaderboard by improving his time by more than three tenths of a second.

While Max has gone back to the pits, it is Vettel who, after more than twenty minutes, relinquishes Max of the top spot. He does this on the ultra-soft tyre. When Max heads out for his second run, he also straps on the same tyres. By then it starts to drizzle a bit, making it hard to get a top time on the clock. However, the quick Dutchman still manages to improve his time. Despite that, he remains second.

The weather stays dry causing the teams to, as they normally do, simulate qualifying runs in the final fifteen minutes of practice. But they are cut short, when Kevin Magnussen quite severely hits the wall, exiting turn 7. This triggers a code red. The Dane reports on the radio to his team that he is ok. Meanwhile, the clock keeps ticking away but a few minutes later, it is announced that the session will not be re-started.

Canadian Grand Prix - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - Saturday 11 June

01  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:13.919          21
02 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:14.158 +0.239s  19
03  6 Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                    1:14.316 +0.397s  22
04  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:14.332 +0.413s  21
05 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:14.334 +0.415s  19
06  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:14.487 +0.568s  22
07 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:14.655 +0.736s  21
08 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:14.801 +0.882s  19
09 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:14.886 +0.967s  21
10 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:14.890 +0.971s  18
11 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Force India Mercedes        1:14.918 +0.999s  20
12 77 Valtteri Bottas     Williams Mercedes           1:14.985 +1.066s  20
13 22 Jenson Button       McLaren Honda               1:15.023 +1.104s  17
14 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:15.199 +1.280s  20
15 21 Esteban Gutierrez   Haas Ferrari                1:15.444 +1.525s  16
16 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:15.656 +1.737s  19
17  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:15.704 +1.785s  14
18  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:16.078 +2.159s  24
19 20 Kevin Magnussen     Renault                     1:16.085 +2.166s  17
20 12 Felipe Nasr         Sauber Ferrari              1:16.326 +2.407s  24
21 94 Pascal Wehrlein     MRT Mercedes                1:16.622 +2.703s  18
22 88 Rio Haryanto        MRT Mercedes                1:16.901 +2.982s  15

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