Verstappen fourth in final practice in Silverstone
Published on 09 July 2016 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen was the fourth fastest in the final free practice to the British Grand Prix. The session, that got underway on a track that was getting dryer, was interrupted by a severe crash from Marcus Ericsson. Luckily he was able to walk away unscathed. After repairs to the tyre wall, that took a while, the drivers were still able to get out on track for a brief moment. Hamilton and Rosberg finished the session in first and second, followed by the Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Verstappen.
Final practice got underway on a still damp track. Numerous drivers, including Max, decide to do their first laps on the intermediate tyres. However, no lap time is clocked. It is more than obvious that the track is not ready for dry weather tyres when we hear Max on the radio saying: “The track is still wet. Definitely not ready for slicks.”
The circuit is rapidly getting dryer and with still 45 minutes to go, Sergio Perez is the first to venture out on the slicks. The rest is quick to follow. Nico Rosberg is the first driver to get a decent time on the clocks, a 1:33.591. Moments later Vettel’s and Raikkonen’s Ferraris as well as Bottas’ Williams beat the time set. In the meanwhile, Verstappen and Ricciardo are still in the pits. But, the men from Mercedes get their head down and clock the fastest time by far.
With 25 minutes remaining, Max Verstappen decides to head out on track for a run on the soft compound tyres. With a 1:31.760, he gets an excellent third time on the leaderboard. Only a mere half a second behind the Mercedes and ahead of team mate Ricciardo.
Some seconds later, after the Dutchman clocked his fastest time, Marcus Ericsson bounces off track quite severely. Exiting Stowe corner, he loses control of his Sauber and hits the tyre wall full on. He is very lucky to walk away unharmed from his badly damaged Sauber. This immediately prompts a code red.
After repairs to the tyre wall, that took some time to be done, the drivers were still able to get out on track for a brief moment. Both Verstappen and Ricciardo are able to improve on their time, but Ricciardo is fractionally faster than his team mate. Vettel is suffering again from issues with his gear box and needs to take into account another gear box replacement. Meaning he can be potentially dropped five places.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finish the session in first and second place. The Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Verstappen follow in third and fourth. This confirms that Red Bull appears to be the second team on Silverstone this weekend. At 14:00 hrs. Dutch time, qualifying will get underway.
British Grand Prix - Silverstone - Saturday 9 July
RESULTS FREE PRACTICE 3 01 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.904 10 02 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:30.967 +0.063s 18 03 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:31.488 +0.584s 6 04 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:31.561 +0.657s 7 05 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:32.049 +1.145s 10 06 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams Mercedes 1:32.736 +1.832s 15 07 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:32.754 +1.850s 11 08 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes 1:32.798 +1.894s 14 09 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:32.833 +1.929s 13 10 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso Ferrari 1:32.889 +1.985s 10 11 21 Esteban Gutierrez Haas Ferrari 1:32.895 +1.991s 12 12 22 Jenson Button McLaren Honda 1:33.042 +2.138s 11 13 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:33.344 +2.440s 13 14 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:33.361 +2.457s 13 15 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:33.440 +2.536s 14 16 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso Ferrari 1:33.538 +2.634s 10 17 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber Ferrari 1:33.710 +2.806s 10 18 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:33.769 +2.865s 13 19 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:34.049 +3.145s 10 20 88 Rio Haryanto MRT Mercedes 1:34.471 +3.567s 14 21 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:34.551 +3.647s 7 22 94 Pascal Wehrlein MRT Mercedes 1:34.658 +3.754s 11
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