Max P5 in final Sochi practice

Published on 29 April 2017 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen finished fifth in the final free practice session of the Russian Grand Prix. P5 appears to be the maximum for Red Bull Racing with the Ferraris and Mercedes setting the pace. Sebastian Vettel was fastest ahead his team mate Kimi Raikkonen. The Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton occupied P3 and P4.

At the start of the session, after a couple of installation laps, the front running teams bolt on the fastest compound Pirellis have to offer, the ultra-soft tyres. Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas and Hamilton set the pace with Max best of the rest.

At the half way point, Max heads out on a new set of the ultra soft Pirellis. In his second timed lap of the stint, the Red Bull Racing ace set his quickest lap of the session (1:35.4). In the following few laps, the tyres have lost their edge and a sliding Max is unable to put in a quicker effort around the Sochi Autodrome.

At the front, Ferrari set the pace, followed by Mercedes. Felipe Massa in the Williams put the pressure on Red Bull Racing by splitting Max and Daniel Ricciaro to claim P6 in the final session ahead of qualifying.

Russian Grand Prix - Sochi Autodrome - Saturday 29 April

FREE PRACTICE 3 RESULTS

01  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:34.001          17
02  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:34.338 +0.337s  16
03 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                    1:34.364 +0.363s  20
04 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:34.542 +0.541s  19
05 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:35.452 +1.451s  21
06 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:35.471 +1.470s  17
07 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                     1:35.662 +1.661s  15
08  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:35.830 +1.829s  24
09 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                  1:36.164 +2.163s  20
10 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari                1:36.556 +2.555s  19
11 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes           1:36.649 +2.648s  19
12 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes        1:36.676 +2.675s  22
13 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso                  1:36.846 +2.845s  18
14 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:36.869 +2.868s  12
15 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:36.962 +2.961s  21
16  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:37.164 +3.163s  20
17  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda               1:37.182 +3.181s  15
18  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:37.503 +3.502s  21
19 94 Pascal Wehrlein     Sauber Ferrari              1:37.657 +3.656s  17
20 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                                       4

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