Max opens Spanish GP weekend with fifth place

Published on 12 May 2017 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen finished the first practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix in fifth. The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas led the way on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel (both Ferrari) completed the top four. Max Verstappen’s team mate Daniel Ricciardo finished sixth, trailing the Dutchman four tenths.

The session starts with a bang. Fernando Alonso is once again the victim of bad reliability when his McLaren grinds to a halt in a cloud of smoke due to engine issues.

Other drivers with car trouble are Sebastian Vettel and Sergey Sirotkin. The German experienced a minor gearbox issue that was resolved quickly by his team. Sirotkin, taking over Jolyon Palmer’s FP1 duties, managed only ten laps in the Renault after being hit by a water leak.

Most drivers started the session on Pirellis hard compound slick. Later on, most switched to the medium compound which resulted in faster times near the end of the practice.

It meant that Max, after completing 22 laps, starts his Spanish Grand Prix weekend with a fifth place.

Spanish Grand Prix - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - Friday 12 May

FREE PRACTICE 1 RESULTS

01 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:21.521          28
02 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                    1:21.550 +0.029s  30
03  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:22.456 +0.935s  24
04  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:22.600 +1.079s  23
05 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:22.706 +1.185s  22
06  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:23.084 +1.563s  17
07 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari                1:23.670 +2.149s  22
08  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:23.758 +2.237s  23
09 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                     1:23.993 +2.472s  24
10 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                  1:24.004 +2.483s  21
11 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:24.188 +2.667s  23
12 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes        1:24.324 +2.803s  22
13  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda               1:24.400 +2.879s  24
14 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:24.618 +3.097s  34
15 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso                  1:24.642 +3.121s  18
16  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:24.966 +3.445s  23
17 94 Pascal Wehrlein     Sauber Ferrari              1:25.182 +3.661s  24
18 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes           1:25.919 +4.398s  34
19 46 Sergey Sirotkin SIR Renault                     1:26.293 +4.772s  10
20 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda                                 1

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