Max fourth in Sochi FP1

Published on 28 April 2017 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen opened his Russian Grand Prix weekend with P4 in the first free practice session. The two Finnish F1 drivers Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) were first and second. The Ferrari driver was fastest. Lewis Hamilton completed the top three.

The session starts in ideal conditions for the drivers and their teams; sunny and 19 degrees. Sergey Sirotkin is the first driver out on track. The Renault F1 test driver occupies Nico Hulkenberg’s seat for FP1 only.

However, Sirotkin is not able to make the most of the session in front of his home crowd. In only his second lap, his Renault stops in sector 1. Despite several instructions from the team, the young Russian is not able to get the car back to the pits.

In general, FP1 is relatively quiet with not much on-track action. It is not until the final half an hour that we see most cars on track.

In that final third, Max heads out on the super-soft Pirellis. The Dutchman sets a fifth fastest time before needing to abort his next lap: Esteban Ocon’s Force India lost its engine cover, prompting a red flag. On Max’ in-lap, the youngster informs the team about an odd noise he hears when going into fourth gear. “It doesn’t sound great”.

Nevertheless, Max is able to continue in the session. With less than fifteen minutes to go, he has dropped to seventh. However, another flying lap on the super-softs, pushes the Red Bull Racing ace to fourth despite struggling to get the tyres in the right temperature window.

In the closing stages, we see a familiar sight; Mclaren struggling. Stoffel Vandoorne informs the team “no power” before parking the car in the pits.

At the front, Raikkonen and Bottas have no issues, cementing Ferrari’s and Mercedes position at the top of the leaderboards.

Russian Grand Prix - Sochi Autodrom - Friday 28 April

FREE PRACTICE 1 RESULTS

01  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:36.074          19
02 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                    1:36.119 +0.045s  24
03 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:36.681 +0.607s  23
04 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:37.174 +1.100s  19
05  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:37.230 +1.156s  19
06  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:37.290 +1.216s  19
07 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:37.457 +1.383s  29
08 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:37.900 +1.826s  29
09 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes           1:37.944 +1.870s  30
10 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes        1:38.065 +1.991s  28
11 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso                  1:38.496 +2.422s  17
12 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari                1:38.747 +2.673s  23
13 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:38.813 +2.739s  16
14 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                  1:38.976 +2.902s  17
15 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:39.158 +3.084s  16
16  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:39.533 +3.459s  17
17  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda               1:39.541 +3.467s  19
18 94 Pascal Wehrlein     Sauber Ferrari              1:39.731 +3.657s  21
19  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:40.079 +4.005s  20
20 46 Sergey Sirotkin     Renault                                       2 

Click here to enter our Russian GP competition with a chance to win a #33 Red Bull Racing driver cap!