Max opens Suzuka weekend with P6

Published on 06 October 2017 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen started his Japanese Grand Prix weekend with a sixth place in the opening practice session. The Dutchman clocked 26 laps on the Suzuka circuit. A Carlos Sainz crash prevented Max from bettering his 1:30.7 set early on in practice. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) was quickest, followed by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo.

Despite the grey clouds over the circuit, FP1 is off to a dry start. Max is keen to get going and opens his lap tally with a nine lap stint on the super-soft Pirelli tyres. His quickest lap is a 1:30.762. Unfortunately for Max, he is unable to beat this time in the remainder of the session.

His first attempt strands at the exit of Spoon corner, where the youngster goes a bit too wide and has to re-route through the gravel traps. On his next run on the super-softs, Max again fails to set a competitive lap. This time, a red flag caused by Carlos Sainz, is the cause. The Spaniard crashed hard at the exit of the hairpin.

After the Toro Rosso is cleared, there are still 23 minutes to go. Max heads out to do long runs, meaning he is not focused on bettering his fastest time. The arrival of light rain completely rules out quicker lap times.

Five minutes before the end, the rain intensifies and all drivers decide to call it a day, leaving Vettel, Hamilton and Ricciardo to lead the timing sheets.

Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka - Friday 6 October

FREE PRACTICE 1 RESULTS

01  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:29.166          23
02 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:29.377 +0.211s  29
03  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:29.541 +0.375s  27
04  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:29.638 +0.472s  22
05 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                    1:30.151 +0.985s  30
06 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:30.762 +1.596s  26
07 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes        1:30.899 +1.733s  22
08 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                     1:30.974 +1.808s  24
09  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:31.032 +1.866s  22
10  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda               1:31.202 +2.036s  24
11 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari                1:31.216 +2.050s  15
12 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:31.235 +2.069s  19
13 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:31.530 +2.364s  23
14 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes           1:31.602 +2.436s  22
15 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:31.757 +2.591s  22
16 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:31.912 +2.746s  20
17 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                  1:32.252 +3.086s  14
18 10 Pierre Gasly        Toro Rosso                  1:32.501 +3.335s  18
19 94 Pascal Wehrlein     Sauber Ferrari              1:32.897 +3.731s  29
20  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:33.397 +4.231s  28

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