Max seventh in Paul Ricard FP1
Published on 22 June 2018 by Stefan Meens
Max Verstappen opened his French Grand Prix weekend with a seventh place in the opening practice session at the Paul Ricard circuit. The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were quickest, with the former leading his Finnish team mate. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo completed the top three.
Max opens the session with a five-lap reconnaissance stint on the Pirelli soft compound, before switching to the ultra-softs for a second run. It is not all plain sailing for Max. He has to take evasive action to avoid a Scuderia Toro Rosso and is forced wide.
A similar situation happens in the Dutchman’s third run. Again on the ultra-softs, Max is caught by surprise by a Renault leaving the pits. Apart from a minor scare, the youngster and his team can complete their scheduled running, eventually leading to being seventh fastest at the end of FP1.
With three minutes to go, the session is ended prematurely. Marcus Ericsson has crashed into the barriers at turn eleven with the Sauber spitting flames. Luckily the Swede escapes unharmed, unlike his car, which is heavily damaged.
Results first free practice France:
| pos | driver | team | time | laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | HAM | Mercedes | 1:32.231 | |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | BOT | Mercedes | 1:32.371 | +0.140s |
| 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RIC | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:32.527 | +0.296s |
| 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | RAI | Ferrari | 1:33.003 | +0.772s |
| 5 | Sebastian Vettel | VET | Ferrari | 1:33.172 | +0.941s |
| 6 | Romain Grosjean | GRO | Haas Ferrari | 1:33.318 | +1.087s |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | VER | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:33.331 | +1.100s |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | GAS | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:33.685 | +1.454s |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | PER | Force India Mercedes | 1:33.719 | +1.488s |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | MAG | Haas Ferrari | 1:34.108 | +1.877s |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz | SAI | Renault | 1:34.258 | +2.027s |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | OCO | Force India Mercedes | 1:34.484 | +2.253s |
| 13 | Charles Leclerc | LEC | Sauber Ferrari | 1:34.513 | +2.282s |
| 14 | Marcus Ericsson | ERI | Sauber Ferrari | 1:34.592 | +2.361s |
| 15 | Brendon Hartley | HAR | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:34.664 | +2.433s |
| 16 | Fernando Alonso | ALO | McLaren Renault | 1:34.862 | +2.631s |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | STR | Williams Mercedes | 1:34.881 | +2.650s |
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg | HUL | Renault | 1:34.993 | +2.762s |
| 19 | Stoffel Vandoorne | VAN | McLaren Renault | 1:35.021 | +2.790s |
| 20 | Sergey Sirotkin | SIR | Williams Mercedes | 1:35.105 | +2.874s |
