Forget the defeat of Spa-Francorchamps. With this imperative, Ferrari presented itself at Zandvoort, the home track for Max Verstappen, ready to spoil the party for the Dutch driver.
If after the meeting in Belgium many doubts arose about the form of the F1-75, today, at the end of the first two free practice sessions, the car from Maranello has returned to affect as often happened during this season.
Of course, the first and second halves signed respectively by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the end of the second free practice session must be taken with a grain of salt, especially considering the program carried out by the world champion who did not go beyond the eighth time trial, but this weekend’s departure seemed very different from the one seen seven days ago.
Sainz, in particular, seemed immediately at ease with the car. Third in the morning, with a time of 1’12 ” 845 and 3 tenths of a second behind George Russell, the Spaniard improved in the afternoon, closing with the second time and a gap of just 4 thousandths from his teammate.
“Things went very well. I was very happy to be back racing on such a demanding and demanding track and I had a lot of fun, especially when I looked at the times ”. These were the first words Sainz spoke at the end of the first day of activity on the track.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
The Spaniard went out of his way by stating that Ferrari has returned to being competitive after what hopefully has been just an unlucky interlude, but Carlos wanted to underline that the main teams are enclosed in a few tenths.
“It was a day where it seems like we are back to being competitive after a complicated weekend like the one at Spa, but it was surprising to see how fast McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull have gone. We are all enclosed in 3 tenths ”.
While waiting to see the true potential of Red Bull, which today remained hidden with Verstappen after the gearbox problem accused during FP1, it will be essential that everything turns in the right direction in qualifying and that teams and drivers do not make mistakes.
“I am sure that this leveling of performance will make tomorrow’s battle very close and also exciting” concluded a Sainz, aware of having a car capable of giving him another pole.
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