Verstappen leads Red Bull one-two in rain-hit session

2017 Malaysian Grand Prix first practice

Posted on

| Written by

Max Verstappen headed first practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix following a half-hour delay due to heavy rain at the Sepang International Circuit.

Malaysian Grand Prix practice in pictures
He headed a one-two for Red Bull after lapping seven-tenths of a second faster than Daniel Ricciardo, who completed his running earlier as the track dried out.

Fernando Alonso, who ran the Halo at the beginning of the session, jumped up to third place with a late run in his McLaren. He was followed by the two Ferrari drivers who completed their final runs just after the chequered flag fell. Sebastian Vettel had a brief off-track moment at turn nine earlier in the session.

The Mercedes pair were next, Lewis Hamilton ahead of Valtteri Bottas. The top ten was completed by Lance Stroll, Toro Rosso newcomer Pierre Gasly and Renault test driver Sergey Sirotkin. The latter outpaced regular driver Jolyon Palmer by a tenth of a second.

Sean Gelael, Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi were the other test drivers who ran during the session. The only driver who failed to set a time was Felipe Massa, who was delayed by a hydraulic fault on his Williams.

Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
133Max VerstappenRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’48.96211
23Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’49.7190.75712
314Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Honda1’50.5971.6356
47Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’50.7341.77212
55Sebastian VettelFerrari1’51.0092.04712
644Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’51.5182.5568
777Valtteri BottasMercedes1’52.0073.04510
818Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes1’52.2953.3339
910Pierre GaslyToro Rosso-Renault1’52.3803.41814
1046Sergey SirotkinRenault1’53.5214.55910
1130Jolyon PalmerRenault1’53.6254.66310
122Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren-Honda1’53.7714.80910
1331Esteban OconForce India-Mercedes1’53.8964.9346
1438Sean GelaelToro Rosso-Renault1’54.6105.64813
1511Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’54.6695.7074
1637Charles LeclercSauber-Ferrari1’55.2806.31810
1794Pascal WehrleinSauber-Ferrari1’55.6526.69010
188Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’56.2117.2498
1950Antonio GiovinazziHaas-Ferrari1’56.3397.3776
2019Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes

First practice visual gaps

Max Verstappen – 1’48.962

+0.757 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’49.719

+1.635 Fernando Alonso – 1’50.597

+1.772 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’50.734

+2.047 Sebastian Vettel – 1’51.009

+2.556 Lewis Hamilton – 1’51.518

+3.045 Valtteri Bottas – 1’52.007

+3.333 Lance Stroll – 1’52.295

+3.418 Pierre Gasly – 1’52.380

+4.559 Sergey Sirotkin – 1’53.521

+4.663 Jolyon Palmer – 1’53.625

+4.809 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’53.771

+4.934 Esteban Ocon – 1’53.896

+5.648 Sean Gelael – 1’54.610

+5.707 Sergio Perez – 1’54.669

+6.318 Charles Leclerc – 1’55.280

+6.690 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’55.652

+7.249 Romain Grosjean – 1’56.211

+7.377 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’56.339

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

16 comments on “Verstappen leads Red Bull one-two in rain-hit session”

  1. Damn, the SkySports guys sure look uncomfortable in those weird pants. Ted (though I hate him) looks much more relaxed in his shorts.

  2. Sadly thats the closest Alonso and Mclaren will be to the front row all weekend.

    1. You never know. there could be three car crash at turn 1 involving drivers from the top two constructors, a mechanical failure for a would be 20 yr old, a few poor tyre choice and voila–Alonso on the podium.

      1. @webtel

        hahaha…even a Sauber will pass Mclaren down the straights…so yeah.

        1. That is not the case, probably never has, even in baku mclarens were already attacking\passing saubers.

  3. I dont want to read too much into these times but nonetheless,
    Cant help but notice the fact that even Sirotkin is faster than Palmer !!!

    1. Yeah, that’s pretty damning. But who knows – maybe Palmer was carrying an extra 100kg of fuel. :Op

  4. Everyone is missing the fact that Leclerc is quicker than WEH, and there goes WEH’s 2018 race drive.

    1. @krishna, it’s more that, in a session with variable conditions, the times are rather meaningless when the track conditions will be affecting the times far more than driver ability.

      Yes, it is true that Wehrlein will probably be out of a seat by the end of the year, but that will probably be due to Ferrari’s influence over the team (given how many components they supply to Sauber, a possible discount for running Leclerc becomes very attractive and gives them a lot of leverage over the team) as much as anything else.

    2. Everybody is missing that Verstappen is almost a second faster than Ricciardo, even though Ricciardo is almost a 100 points ahead in points. There goes his 2018 drive; bring Kvyat back.

      1. Read more carefully, DR stopped before the track dried, that could have affected his time, don’t you think.

        1. @Hohum,
          It’s a sarcastic reply to the original comment; times during such sessions don’t mean a lot!

        2. did it…? you make it sound like Ricciardo is usualy faster.
          Rain means Verstappen on top regardless

          1. Yes, ricciardo isn’t a top level wet weather driver like atm hamilton and verstappen; alonso and stroll are pretty good too compared to most of the grid.

  5. Well, lets hope this will be a wet race.

Comments are closed.