If the photo of the free practice completed today in Zandvoort is confirmed for the rest of the weekend, there will be many in the paddock to breathe a great sigh of relief, and not only in the hospitality of the teams.
Seven days ago, on the Spa circuit, it was immediately clear that Red Bull in the hands of Max Verstappen was a notch (wide) above all, including Sergio Perez, trusted bodyguard. And so it was from Friday to Sunday.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Erik Junius
The findings that emerged today in Zandvoort say something else, but before the analysis of the case a premise is necessary: Verstappen has not been seen. Or perhaps, he did not want to show, partly due to force majeure (a problem with the gearbox that blocked him at the start of the FP1 session), partly with the work program of the FP2 session, which did not allow the Dutchman to complete a second fastest lap after an unsuccessful first attempt due to traffic problems. The ranking of the FP2 session sees Max in an eighth position which says nothing about his real potential.
“We lost precious time in FP1 – commented Max – and also the balance was not exceptional in the FP2 session. In a one-hour shift you don’t get to change much on the car, so we had to deal with what we had. Today was not an exceptional day, but we will have a look at everything during the night, for sure we can do better than what we saw in the first two free practice sessions ”.
We will see tomorrow, and even if Verstappen remains the favorite both for the chase for pole and in view of the seventy-two laps scheduled for Sunday, there are still the results of the day, numbers that bring back the smile in the Ferrari garage and also in the adjacent Mercedes garage. .
All this in an afternoon in which a blackout of the general information systems forced the teams to work without GPS and with much less data than usual. “We are not yet very sure of the goodness of our long-run – explained George Russell – we will have to review everything because we did not have the times screen”.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
The ranking of the times which suddenly became intermittent, finally proposed a “one-two” Ferrari that reconciles with what would have been expected on the eve of the Dutch weekend if the ‘slap’ of Spa had not been involved.
Well Charles Leclerc, leader of the day, and also Carlos Sainz, given that the gap between the two in the qualifying simulation was only 4 thousandths of a second. To complete a positive day for Ferrari was also Sainz’s race simulation, more than ten laps with soft tires that confirmed a good pace and a contained degradation that suggests the use of the softer compound (this weekend the C3) even in the race.
“Overall this was a good Friday in Zandvoort – explained the Spaniard – I had a lot of fun running on this track so demanding for drivers and cars. From the point of view of performance, the sessions went according to plan without any hitch both when we were running in preparation for qualifying and in view of the race ”.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, in the pit lane
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
“In FP2 we gained some performance – commented a less satisfied Leclerc – but in terms of balance we are not yet where I would like. We have work to do and I am confident that we can take another step forward for tomorrow. It will be an interesting qualification “.
There is a cautious optimism in Mercedes too. “There is no doubt that on this track our car works better than Spa – commented Russell – but having said that, we know that qualifying is our weak point. Budapest was an exceptional circumstance, it will hardly be repeatable, I would be shocked if it happens again, but we are closer than many other teams ”.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
However, Mercedes seems to be closer than on other occasions, and if there are any unforeseen events in the Ferrari garage, both Hamilton and Russell seem to be very close to take advantage of them.
Among the ‘bigs’, the least satisfied driver of the day’s balance is undoubtedly Sergio Perez, who made setup changes to his car at every ‘run’ of the FP2 session. “
The Ferraris seem to be very strong on this circuit so, as I had predicted, it will be an interesting weekend – commented ‘Checo’ – Zandvoort is a rather demanding track and I think at the moment we lack speed in everything, we have not been fast in any of the three sectors, so there is a lot to analyze and understand. We are not as satisfied as we were in Belgium a week ago ”.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
What for Perez is a headache for the rest of the paddock seems to be a sigh of relief. No one is ready to endure another technical hegemony anymore, but beware of underestimating Verstappen and Red Bull. The chances of the Dutchman getting his seventeenth pole position tomorrow are high, but everyone (the opponents) is hoping that we can see a battle on the single tenth, if not on a handful of cents.
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