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Max sixth after Friday practice: 'Hopefully we can fight tomorrow'

Published on 21 June 2019 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen has clocked the sixth quickest time in the second free practice session of the French Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas was fastest ahead of Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton. Charles Leclerc completed the top three.

“It was a reasonable day, we tried some stuff with the car and made some steps. But it’s clear Mercedes are a lot faster than everybody else”, said Max. “My fastest lap was a bit scruffy with traffic and some aborted laps. So I think we can be a bit closer to Ferrari and fight with them tomorrow.”

Fifteen minutes into FP2, Max makes his first appearance on track. He starts a long run on the medium Pirelli compound, resulting in P2, behind Bottas.

After a visit to the pits, Max heads out for another stint, again on the medium. The moment the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing starts his timed effort, Lewis Hamilton makes a mistake and slides off track. As the world champion drives back onto the circuit, Max has to use every ounce of skill to avoid Hamilton. Max avoids a collision by going off track, aborts his lap and returns to the team. The FIA investigated the incident but decided to not take any further action.

With twenty minutes to go, it is busy on track; only Lando Norris is in the pits. Max has ventured out on a long run on the medium Pirellis, meaning the Dutchman fastest effort set earlier in the session remains his quickest of the session. Meanwhile, Mercedes set the pace during the race simulations in the closing stages of the session. Max and Red Bull Racing appear to keep up with the Ferraris.

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Results second free practice France:

posdriverteamtimelaps
1Valtteri BottasBOTMercedes1:30.937
2Lewis HamiltonHAMMercedes1:31.361+0.424s
3Charles LeclercLECFerrari1:31.586+0.649s
4Sebastian VettelVETFerrari1:31.665+0.728s
5Lando NorrisNORMcLaren Renault1:31.882+0.945s
6Max VerstappenVERRed Bull Racing Honda1:32.049+1.112s
7Carlos SainzSAIMcLaren Renault1:32.432+1.495s
8Pierre GaslyGASRed Bull Racing Honda1:32.448+1.511s
9Kimi RäikkönenRAIAlfa Romeo Racing Ferrari1:32.677+1.740s
10Kevin MagnussenMAGHaas Ferrari1:32.789+1.852s
11Antonio GiovinazziGIOAlfa Romeo Racing Ferrari1:32.973+2.036s
12Daniel RicciardoRICRenault1:33.020+2.083s
13Alexander AlbonALBScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:33.023+2.086s
14Nico HulkenbergHULRenault1:33.081+2.144s
15Daniil KvyatKVYScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:33.254+2.317s
16Sergio PerezPERRacing Point BWT Mercedes1:33.300+2.363s
17Romain GrosjeanGROHaas Ferrari1:33.591+2.654s
18Lance StrollSTRRacing Point BWT Mercedes1:33.884+2.947s
19George RussellRUSWilliams Mercedes1:34.614+3.677s
20Robert KubicaKUBWilliams Mercedes1:35.195+4.258s