Verstappen again tops Baku practice in session 2 (Update)
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| Max Verstappen |
06/23/17
Drivers continued to go off course on the dirty and slick Baku street course in the 2nd practice session Friday afternoon. As a result Friday was really just one big track cleaning day.
Max Verstappen in the Red Bull again was fastest with his teammate Daniel Ricciardo only 0.111s behind in third.
Sandwiched in between the two Red Bulls was Valtteri Bottas for Mercedes, just 0.100s in arrears. His teammate Lewis Hamilton is really struggling this weekend and ended up 10th 1.163s back
Rounding out the top-5 were the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.
Grip levels remained low around the Baku City Circuit, with numerous off-track excursions. The worst was for Jolyon Palmer, who put his Renault into the wall at Turn 8 in a near repeat of Sergio Perez’s FP1 accident. Verstappen then went side on into the Turn 1 barriers within sight of the checkered flag, sustaining rear-end damage to his car.
Perez recovered to finish seventh in FP2 in his repaired Force India, behind Lance Stroll, the Canadian rookie turning in an excellent performance for sixth. Then came Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, Force India’s Esteban Ocon – and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton stranded in 10th.
But it was a session remarkable for incident, that could be summarized in three words: Yellow and red. Flags, that is.
After Palmer and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen had set the early pace, Kvyat posted 1m 46.868s and was in turn ousted by Vettel on 1m 46.089s, before Verstappen upped the ante with 1m 45.084s and remained in control. All of them ran the soft Pirelli tires.
Right from the start, though, the session began as it would continue, with car after car going off. Few made contact with the barriers, but Palmer did the job properly and semi-detached his Renault’s right front wheel in Perez’s favorite corner. Out came the red flag for nine minutes while the yellow car was removed.
Somehow in amongst the drama Vettel and Raikkonen were able to use their supersofts to go fastest with 1m 43.489s and 1m 43.615s before Verstappen used the same rubber to get back on top with 1m 43.362s. Just before Alonso seemingly lost yet another Honda engine (and nearly his McLaren as it started to roll away from the marshals), Bottas managed to get up there too, taking second with 1m 43.462s, while Stroll jumped to fifth with 1m 44.114s and then improved that, to 1m 44.113s.
In a fitting end to an extraordinary session – in which Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Stroll, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, Magnussen and Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein were the only drivers not to err – Verstappen understeered wide under braking in Turn 1, tried to bail out by looping clockwise into the escape road, and smacked the rear end of his Red Bull into the outer wall.
QUOTES
Mercedes GP
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| Bottas Friday |
Valtteri Bottas (2nd, 1:43.462): "Practice one was quite tricky: we were struggling with the setup of the car and it wasn't so well balanced. Today, we needed multiple laps in a row to generate the temperatures we want for a good balance. FP1 wasn't a happy session, but we made some changes ahead of FP2 and the car definitely felt more comfortable. We are moving in the right direction and hopefully we'll make another step this evening. We'll work hard and if we can find those gains we'll be right up there fighting for pole position."
Lewis Hamilton (10th, 1:44.525): "It was a difficult day out there. This circuit is a tough one and we had a few challenges that we tried to work through today. We've clearly still got lots of work to do ahead of qualifying, but Valtteri's time in FP2 looked promising, so there is obviously pace in the car, which is encouraging. Now it's just a case of getting our heads together tonight to work out exactly how to extract that pace across the entire weekend."
James Allison, Technical Director: "It was a scrappy day punctuated every few seconds by dozens and dozens of off-track frolics. The associated yellow flags interrupted the rhythm at a circuit where it is quite challenging to get temperature into the tires, especially the fronts, and that as much as anything dictated your position on the leader board today. However, we have work to do overnight to make the car's handling sweeter, as both drivers were struggling to get temperature into the front tires and, as a consequence, suffering with front locking. There is going to be a lot more lap time to come from all of the front runners as the track rubbers in and the drivers gain in confidence. It's already close at the front, so I expect that those who work well overnight, and keep a cool head tomorrow, will be rewarded in qualifying and the race."
Red Bull-Tag Heuer
Max Verstappen (1st, 1:43.362): "The whole day has been really positive, except the last lap, everything has been working well. From lap one I felt comfortable in the car, it was handling really well and I was confident with the setup. I think the preparation we did at the factory and in the simulator has allowed us to come here with a strong setup and competitive car from the go. This has definitely been the most positive Friday of the year so far. In the second session I felt I couldn't get the maximum out of the short run pace due to yellow flags and traffic so we can be very happy to still finish P1. It feels like the cars are quicker through the corners this year, this means if you have a lock up in can be more critical. We are confident heading into Qualifying but also wary that Mercedes will turn their engines up a bit. We are on top at the end of Friday which means they have to catch up so it will be exciting in the session tomorrow. At the end I locked up at turn 1, I could see I wasn't going to make the corner so decided to take the run off, as I turned right I lost the rear and ended up sliding into the wall."
Daniel Ricciardo (3rd, 1:43.473): "It's been a good day for myself and Max and great that we were in the top three in both sessions. Even though I was second fastest this morning I wasn't fully content with my session and I knew there was still room to improve in myself and the car. I believe we made those improvements this afternoon and I'm generally a lot happier with where we ended the day. This afternoon was a lot more entertaining, the grip was coming and you could really start to push the car. There's not much room for error and it's a pretty high risk circuit in terms of mistakes but that makes it really challenging and rewarding. When you are able to put in a good lap you cross the finish line and smile. Like always, we should not celebrate on a Friday but we are in the ball park, so hopefully tomorrow we can stay at the front."
Ferrari
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| Kimi Raikkonen |
Kimi Raikkonen (4th, 1:43.489):
Sebastian Vettel (5th, 1:43.615):
Maurizio Arrivabene, Team Principal:
Force India-Mercedes
Sergio Perez (7th, 1:44.306): "First and foremost, I want to thank my mechanics and the whole team for fixing the car so quickly. They are some of the best guys in the pit lane and they showed exactly why. This morning was all about trying to find the limits, and I think we did – it was good it happened today rather than tomorrow. It was a bit of a messy day, not just with what happened in FP1 but also because of all the yellow and red flags breaking the flow of the sessions. I still think we are in a good position. Tonight we will need to work out the best set-up: I feel we have a good potential for the weekend, we just have to put it all together when it matters."
Esteban Ocon (9th, 1:44.484): "I'm pretty happy about today. We had good pace in the car and I felt quite comfortable right from the start. I feel we couldn't really show our speed because of all the yellow flags and the traffic I found on my quick laps, but it doesn't matter. The important days for this weekend are yet to come. It was my first time around this circuit, so the priority was to keep out of trouble: this is not an easy track to learn but I enjoy the challenge. It's a narrow circuit and it's very easy to brake a bit too late, which is why there were so many yellow flags."
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: "It was not the most straightforward of Fridays, with Sergio's unfortunate crash during the first practice session. The crew did a truly fantastic job to replace all the broken components and get the car out for the start of FP2, which allowed us to complete a full program this afternoon. Aside from the incident, it was a productive day. We witnessed a lot of track evolution, which is normal for a temporary street circuit: together with the conservative range of tire compounds, it meant a lot of our work was about understanding the tires and getting them to work. The sessions had a lot of interruptions, with many yellow and red flags, which disrupted everyone's performance runs, so we chose to focus on high fuel running. We were also able to split some test items between the two cars. We have plenty to analyze tonight – the initial feeling is positive but there is always room for improvement. Our performance today was reasonable, but it is still too early to tell where we stand."
Williams-Mercedes
Lance Stroll (6th, 1:44.113): "That was good fun, as I am enjoying the track. The car was working well and we didn't have any issues, which was great. I felt the balance was good and now we just need to think overnight, improve on little bits, come back tomorrow and continue pushing. I think what was really positive was we didn't have any issues, and nothing that got in the way of us running our programs. What was really important for me on this kind of track was to get confidence on every lap and every run. Today we did exactly that and didn't lose any laps with problems or stuff going wrong. Things could be better, as this is still the first day of my first time here and we could improve for the qualifying run, but all in all I have to say it was a very positive day in many ways."
Felipe Massa (11th, 1:44.609): "It was a good day. I was happy with the car. Unfortunately, I couldn't really put together a lap on fresh tires, because of the traffic and the yellow flags. But, I was happy with the balance and I was happy with the long runs. The little mistakes that we made today weren't a big problem, because we didn't damage anything, which is always a positive thing here. We're definitely in the fight, so I hope that we can put everything together for qualifying tomorrow."
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: "It was a pretty good day and we completed the intended program. On Lance's side that involved learning the circuit, as he's not been here before and it's quite a tricky track. I'm pleased to say that he drove very well. He progressively built up his pace and managed to put himself sixth in FP2, and he never went off the circuit, which makes him one of a few drivers who had a clean day. So it was a great job by Lance. Felipe did a number of tests for us, but was probably the worst off in terms of traffic throughout the day. It's been a very scrappy day with a lot of yellow flags and a lot of traffic, so he wasn't able to put a good lap together in FP2. But we got some good data from his long runs. It's extremely competitive out there, with some other teams looking fast. So, we'll work hard on understanding the performance of the car tonight to make sure that we're in a strong position for qualifying tomorrow."
McLaren-Honda
Fernando Alonso (12th, 1:45.515): "We tested a few things in FP1 and FP2, running with different levels of downforce, trying to get some useful information for tomorrow. Stoffel worked on tyres, running on high fuel, both of which will help us make some useful decisions about strategy. The track was tricky today – the Prime and Back-Up tyres lose some heat on the long straights, so when you get onto the brakes they suddenly lock up and you go straight on. We saw many cars going off today, mainly because everyone tries to find their limit on Friday. I think we'll see fewer offs tomorrow, and even fewer on Sunday. I lost the last half hour of the second session, so I suppose tomorrow we'll need to do some running on high fuel, to catch up with the programme. We'll have to start at the back of the grid anyway, so we'll take things smoothly in qualifying."
Stoffel Vandoorne (17th, 1:46.174): "Today, we chose to concentrate on our long-run pace because we knew we'd be taking grid penalties for the race. Still, I quickly got to grips with the track in FP1, and I think there's a bit more to come tomorrow. The car feels pretty positive around here, which is good because you need confidence on a street circuit. I also think the preparatory work I did in the sim has paid off pretty well – I felt immediately comfortable with where I had to brake, so it seems like the work was really worth it. The tyres are quite tricky again here; it looks like everyone is struggling to warm them up, with lots of people having lock-ups. It's tricky – especially in the braking zones, because the tyres cool down on the long straights and then you have to brake very hard into the corners. The car's really on a knife-edge in terms of extracting a good lap-time."
Eric Boullier, Racing Director: "We knew coming into this race that it would be a tough weekend for the whole team. Fernando had a nice little engine upgrade to try this weekend – but, unfortunately, we broke the gearbox in FP2. It was a Friday unit, with high mileage, but we still managed to see some progress, which was good. Still, with both drivers facing grid penalties that would relegate them to either the back row of the grid or possibly a start from the pit-lane, we knew we'd need to do something a little different from the norm to get the most out of our weekend. So we decided to treat today as a little bit of an intensive test session, running a different Friday programme to normal. Of course, that doesn't mean we'll overlook the grand prix – after all, we still have to deliver a race for our fans, our partners, and for everybody working hard in Woking, Sakura and Milton Keynes. But we've adopted a different approach, trying some different ways of working to see if we can do things better or if we can learn something useful for the future."
Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda: "We came to Baku armed with an update for Fernando's PU, which we ran during both practice sessions today. Working through our programme in accordance with today's schedule, I can confirm that we were able to see the effectiveness of the update in the data. It was disappointing that Fernando had to stop the car during FP2, and unfortunately for us it was before doing his timed lap, but we still saw certain progress with the power of the PU. Overall, I regard today as positive – we didn't have any major issues with the new spec PU, and I feel that we've taken an encouraging step forward. Although it was Stoffel's first time at this circuit, he had a good first outing, and we were able to work through his programme in accordance with our schedule. As this is a power-hungry circuit with long straights,
Scuderia Toro Rosso-Renault
Daniil Kvyat (8th, 1:44.321): "The run program today was a bit compressed but, nevertheless, we were able to complete most of it, even though I wasn't able to do as many laps as I would've liked to. At least the ones we did were good, even though not everything is clear as conditions were very tricky – it was very easy to make a mistake out there today and we will just try and put it all together tomorrow and see where we are. I don't think we're in a bad situation but we need to keep going forward… Tomorrow is a new day!"
Carlos Sainz (13th, 1:45.733): "Not the easiest of days. In this morning's FP1 we had a few issues with the balance of the car and we weren't able to get it right straight away. This meant that we had to do some changes before FP2 and in this afternoon's session I felt a lot more comfortable with the car. Unfortunately, I didn't really get to exploit this improvement because of all the traffic or yellow flags… I think I did about 15 laps on the supersoft but didn't manage to push during any of them! At least everyone else has been in this same situation, so it's very difficult to judge where we are. I expect us to improve as soon as we put a lap together on the supersoft tires tomorrow."
Jody Egginton, Head of Vehicle Performance: "Both cars had a big test program for FP1and, as such, we dedicated the first 40 minutes to covering a number of specific items. With this completed, the cars were then configured for baseline runs on the supersoft compound. However, with a red flag disrupting the session, we were not able to get a complete read on the baseline set-ups of both cars. Nevertheless, the laps we completed did allow for some quantified set-up changes to be made over the break. Car performance in FP2 was a step in the right direction for both drivers and baseline runs on both the soft and supersoft compounds provided good information regarding set-up direction, especially regarding tires. With a massive number of yellow flags in the session, Carlos was not able to complete a clean lap on his new supersoft tire, whilst Daniil did manage a clean lap, so we did gather the necessary data. Both cars moved to long runs but, again with yellow flags causing further disruption, it was not easy to get into a rhythm for both drivers. Overall car balance is okay and, although there is some work to do overnight in order to take the next step for FP3, we are looking forward to the rest of the weekend's challenges."
Haas-Ferrari
Kevin Magnussen (14th, 1:45.831): "It wasn't too bad today. I think we had a decent day. There's a lot to look at. This track is pretty special and unique, so we'll see if we can improve the car for tomorrow. It's a very fun track to drive. There's a lot to take in and you're finding a lot of speed every lap. It's good to be able to do laps without too many problems on the car. I'm happy with the day."
Romain Grosjean (20th, 1:47.722): "A frustrating afternoon – the feeling just wasn't there. There's not really much I can say, to be honest. I just had no feeling in the car. That's obviously something that we need to look at a lot more depth as we've effectively lost a session heading into Saturday. Lots of work to do but, hopefully, we can focus and identify the issues and put it right."
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: "We had a good morning session, but in the afternoon we struggled with everything a little bit. Between traffic, going straight, no feeling in the car – it's just like we have to start from the beginning. We need to see what changed between FP1 and FP2. A night of hard work is in front of the guys, but let's see what we can do tomorrow."
Renault
Nico Hulkenberg (15th, 1:46.003): "A pretty standard Friday for me except for not getting a fast run on the softest tyres during FP2. It was pretty slippery in FP1, but the track had improved for the evening session. We made some decent progress through the day and I would have been quicker if I'd had a shot at a fast lap on the Supersoft tyres. As always, there are improvements we can make for tomorrow, so that's where our focus lies."
Jolyon Palmer (16th, 1:46.061): "It was pretty slippery out there and we struggled to get grip from the tyres. The car was feeling better in FP2 but I was caught out at turn eight which ended my day early. We had made progress between FP1 and FP2 and there's more we can make for tomorrow. Thankfully there's not too much damage to the car, so we'll look to get it where we want it to be for qualifying."
Bob Bell, Chief Technical Officer: "The first session went reasonably smoothly, but the evening session was dominated by a number of yellow flag incidents which affected our run programme. Jolyon had an early bath, however we did get a long run with Nico in the car so there's sufficient data for race strategy decisions and Jolyon's car won't require too much work, so no big dramas."/p>
Sauber-Ferrari
Pascal Wehrlein (18th, 1:47.150): "It was a rather challenging Friday for us. It was positive that we were able to try out various car setups, and that we could work through our programme for the day. We knew that the track layout would be a challenge to our pace, however did not anticipate the full extent to which it would impact our performance. We are now working towards making improvements for the rest of the weekend."
Marcus Ericsson (19th, 1:47.347): "It has not been a good day for us here in Baku – it was difficult to begin FP1 on medium tyres, so I did not get off to the best start. I found it interesting to try out different mechanical updates throughout the practice sessions. Analysing the data will allow us to decide how to move forward for the rest of the weekend. I am looking forward to FP3 and qualifying tomorrow."
Results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
| 1 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:43.362 | 36 | |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:43.462 | +0.100s | 32 |
| 3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:43.473 | +0.111s | 34 |
| 4 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:43.489 | +0.127s | 35 |
| 5 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:43.615 | +0.253s | 35 |
| 6 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams Mercedes | 1:44.113 | +0.751s | 27 |
| 7 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 1:44.306 | +0.944s | 34 |
| 8 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:44.321 | +0.959s | 27 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India Mercedes | 1:44.484 | +1.122s | 37 |
| 10 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:44.525 | +1.163s | 23 |
| 11 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams Mercedes | 1:44.609 | +1.247s | 33 |
| 12 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Honda | 1:45.515 | +2.153s | 15 |
| 13 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:45.733 | +2.371s | 34 |
| 14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:45.831 | +2.469s | 33 |
| 15 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:46.003 | +2.641s | 29 |
| 16 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer PAL | Renault | 1:46.061 | +2.699s | 17 |
| 17 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren Honda | 1:46.174 | +2.812s | 28 |
| 18 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber Ferrari | 1:47.150 | +3.788s | 25 |
| 19 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 1:47.347 | +3.985s | 25 |
| 20 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:47.722 | +4.360s | 22 |