Verstappen 8th fastest in second free practice Bahrain: “Not quite pleased”

Published on 14 April 2017 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen didn’t quite have a smooth running in the second free practice of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Due to an issue with the floor of the RB13, Verstappen remained in the pits for an extended period of time and was only able to lap the track 18 times. With a 1:32.245 the Dutchman was the eight fastest. Ferrari running Sebastian Vettel came in first, shortly followed by Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo.

After the practice, Max explained what caused the damage to the floor: “The floor was heavily damaged because I ran over Bottas’ T-wing that had broken off. The team therefor needed to replace the car’s floor, something that takes a lot of time. That’s why our practice was compromised and I was only able to do one long run. It was unfortunate that the T-wing had come off and I was as equally unlucky to have run over it. All in all not an ideal day, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

On the other hand, the speed of team mate Ricciardo was encouraging. He finished in third, not far off the pace of the fastest man on track, Vettel. “Ricciardo was able to do a good tempo with another set-up. We are looking quite competitive here. I am not entirely happy about my own set-up, so we need to work hard on my car. But it is important to do some more laps tomorrow.”

The second free practice of the Bahrain Grand Prix gets underway just after sunset. Countless light posts make sure the track is well lit. Verstappen remains in the pits for quite a while before heading out on track. After some fifteen minutes, the Red Bull Racing-driver is on track on the soft compound tyres. Max immediately squeezes out a 1:32.769, good enough for the fifth fastest time at that moment. He then heads back to the pits. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz comes to a stop in his smoke bellowing Toro Rosso at turn 11. The Spaniard’s car is pushed behind the guard rails during a brief virtual car situation.

With still an hour remaining in the session, Verstappen gets out on track on the super soft tyres for the first time this weekend. With a 1:32.251 he clocks the fifth fastest time. Shortly after, the Dutchman betters that by clocking a 1:32.245. Just then he has dropped back to eighth.

For quite some time it remained a bit calm on the circuit. As usual in the second free practice, the teams shift their focus, in the final part of the session, to the race set-up. Sebastian Vettel, with still some 40 minutes on the clocks, comes to a stop in his Ferrari. The German has run into an electronical issue in his car and is not able to make it to the pits on his own. The Red Bull Racing-mechanics are feverishly working on Verstappen’s RB13 floor. Causing him to be in the pits, far longer than intended. The damage to the floor, has been caused by a T-wing from Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes that came off and which Max was not able to avoid anymore.

Only in the final part of the session, the team was able to get the problem solved and Max was able to get back on track. On the super soft tyres, he manages to pull off some decent lap times in the 1:37’s. Verstappen finishes the second free practice with a total of 19 laps and an eighth place finish. Vettel, Bottas and Ricciardo finish quite close to another. This shows that Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull Racing are quite evenly matched to one another in Bahrain. Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton came in fourth and fifth.

Bahrain Grand Prix - Bahrain International Circuit - Friday 14 April

FREE PRACTICE 2 RESULTS

01  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:31.310          29
02 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                    1:31.351 +0.041s  35
03  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:31.376 +0.066s  28
04  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:31.478 +0.168s  34
05 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:31.594 +0.284s  35
06 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                     1:31.883 +0.573s  37
07 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:32.079 +0.769s  37
08 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:32.245 +0.935s  18
09  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:32.505 +1.195s  34
10 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso                  1:32.707 +1.397s  35
11 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari                1:32.854 +1.544s  33
12 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes        1:32.875 +1.565s  38
13 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:32.876 +1.566s  38
14 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:32.897 +1.587s  31
15 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:33.319 +2.009s  34
16 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes           1:33.361 +2.051s  36
17  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:33.944 +2.634s  34
18 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                  1:34.072 +2.762s  5
19 94 Pascal Wehrlein     Sauber Ferrari              1:34.117 +2.807s  29
20  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda               1:34.230 +2.920s  8

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