Max starting from P5 in Montreal: “Everything is possible for the race”

Published on 11 June 2016 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen qualified in 5th for the Canadian Grand Prix, after having finished quite decently in second during the third free practice earlier today. Lewis Hamilton was the fastest and only slightly ahead of his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari-driver Sebastian Vettel.

“All in all it went reasonably well”, says Max immediately after qualifying. “For the last run in Q3, we changed something on the car, but that produced a lot of oversteer, so we could not really push. We are up there again and everything is possible for the race. The most important thing was avoiding the wall and being able to come along. We managed to do that. I had hoped to be closer to the pole. But the race is tomorrow so there are many opportunities. I am looking forward to it. There might be rain tomorrow and that always helps. I am going to try to get further up the grid, there are only just four cars in front of me.”

At the start of Q1, it is dry but whether it would remain so during qualifying was everyone’s guess. The entire field, apart from the Red Bulls and Kevin Magnussen, head out on track as soon as the lights turn green. Both Red Bulls decide to wait several minutes before they make it out on track. Max clocks the sixth fastest time in his first flying lap and shortly afterwards, he reports on the radio to his team that it has started to drizzle. In his second flying lap, he locks up one of his tyres at the end of the straight away and is forced to abort his run.

At the end of Q1, we see Jolyon Palmer lightly brush the wall, but the Brit is able to continue on. That cannot be said for Rio Haryanto, after having impacted the wall he is forced to park his Manor along the track. Both Manors, both Saubers and both Renaults drop out after Q1.

When Q2 gets underway, it is still lightly drizzling but all the drivers get on track on their normal tyres. Even before Max is able to get on the circuit, Carlos Sainz hits the wall just before start-finish and triggers a code red. When the track is cleared again, from the debris caused by the Toro Rosso, there is still some 11 minutes left on the clock. But now both Red Bulls take to the track immediately. Max does a really fast lap which earns him P4. Two positions up, is his team mate Ricciardo.

At the end of the session, besides Sainz, his team mate Daniil Kvyat, both Haas’ cars, Jenson Button and Sergio Perez are the victims in Q2

In Q3 it is still dry and Ricciardo is the first to get on track. Max also is to be found on the circuit right from the start of the session. His first run puts him in P3, behind both Mercedes but in front of Vettel and Ricciardo.

During his second run, Max is able to improve his time but sees Vettel and his team mate Ricciardo get the better of him, dropping him to P5. Ricciardo, in his ultimate bid for a good position, kisses the ‘Wall of Champions’, but is fortunate to walk away unscathed. At the front, it is Hamilton who has made little work of his Mercedes team mate Rosberg.

Canadian Grand Prix - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - Saturday 11 June

01 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:14.121 1:13.076 1:12.812 21
02  6 Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                    1:13.714 1:13.094 1:12.874 19
03  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:13.925 1:13.857 1:12.990 24
04  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:14.030 1:13.540 1:13.166 20
05 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:14.601 1:13.793 1:13.414 24
06  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:14.477 1:13.849 1:13.579 23
07 77 Valtteri Bottas     Williams Mercedes           1:14.389 1:13.791 1:13.670 20
08 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:14.815 1:13.864 1:13.769 21
09 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Force India Mercedes        1:14.663 1:14.166 1:13.952 23
10 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:15.026 1:14.260 1:14.338 24
11 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:14.814 1:14.317          18
12 22 Jenson Button       McLaren Honda               1:14.755 1:14.437          16
13 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:14.829 1:14.457          16
14 21 Esteban Gutierrez   Haas Ferrari                1:15.148 1:14.571          25
15  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:15.444 1:14.803          24
16 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:14.714 1:21.956          11
17 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:15.459                   11
18 94 Pascal Wehrlein     MRT Mercedes                1:15.599                    9
19  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:15.635                   11
20 12 Felipe Nasr         Sauber Ferrari              1:16.663                    9
21 88 Rio Haryanto        MRT Mercedes                1:17.052                    9 

Click here to join our contest to win a by Max signed RBR cap.