Max sixth in final Shanghai practice session

Published on 08 April 2017 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen finished the third three practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix in sixth. The Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen occupied to top two places, followed by two Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing's team mate Daniel Ricciardo was seventh fastest.

After limited running in FP1 and a cancelled FP2, the hour long third practice session on Saturday morning is crucial for the teams to determine their set-up for qualifying and the race. At the start of the session, all drivers – bar Sergio Perez – rush out onto the Shanghai International Circuit for vital track time. Most teams opt to send their two drivers out on different compounds early on, to gather as much data as possible.

On his first run, Bottas loses his T-wing. His team mate Hamilton, who’s Mercedes uses a different configuration of the aerodynamic device, has no problems. All in all it is a fairly uneventful session; Jolyon Palmer (Renault) and Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) have minor spins but are able to resume their session without any damage,

In the final part of the session, most teams shift their focus on to qualifying simulations. Ultimately, the Ferraris set the pace, followed by the Mercedes. The two Red Bulls are gunning for fifth and sixth, but Felipe Massa spoils the party by clocking the fifth fastest time in his Williams.

Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit - Saturday 8 April

FREE PRACTICE 1 RESULTS

01  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:33.336          20
02  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:33.389 +0.053s  19
03 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                    1:33.707 +0.371s  26
04 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:33.879 +0.543s  25
05 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:34.773 +1.437s  23
06 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:34.946 +1.610s  20
07  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:35.092 +1.756s  23
08 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes           1:35.182 +1.846s  24
09 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:35.192 +1.856s  21
10 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                  1:35.223 +1.887s  24
11 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                     1:35.449 +2.113s  22
12 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari                1:35.521 +2.185s  22
13 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:35.626 +2.290s  20
14  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:35.680 +2.344s  22
15 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso                  1:35.804 +2.468s  23
16 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes        1:35.811 +2.475s  24
17 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:35.912 +2.576s  17
18  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:36.063 +2.727s  25
19  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda               1:36.221 +2.885s  21
20 36 Antonio Giovinazzi  Sauber Ferrari              1:36.705 +3.369s  24 

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