By Carlo Platella (Cover: Alessandro Martellotta for FormulaPassion)
The first day of action after returning from vacation sees once again Mercedes ahead of everyone. Friday at Zandvoort sets up an interesting challenge between the Silver Arrows and the McLarens, strong with the second package of developments of the season. Only fifth is Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, waiting to find out whether the Dutch track fully exposes the limits of the RB20 or whether the Milton Keynes team will be able to turn the situation around again with overnight work. Ferrari is even further behind, and will only be able to rely on the data collected by Charles Leclerc to correct the set-up.
Challenge at the top
The best of the day is George Russell, aboard a Mercedes well balanced and competitive in all sectors. The W15 starts strong on a track where rear stability and traction are very important, aspects in which the Silver Arrows have sometimes been lacking due to overheating of the rear tyres. The mild temperatures of Zandvoort help in this respect, with just 32°C of maximum reached on the asphalt on Friday, but at Spa Mercedes had nevertheless shown progress in managing the rear.
Mercedes can also count on the latest updates. The new fund introduced before the summer break had been shelved after the first day in Belgium, but there was optimism in Brackley that the initial problems suffered at Spa were not due to the updates. In the first free practice session at Zandvoort the team carried out a comparison test, with Russell equipped with the new floor and Hamilton with the old specification. The feedback was evidently positive, given that in the afternoon session both W15s took to the track with the updated floor that guaranteed greater aerodynamic load.
Mercedes is aware of the strength of McLaren, which appeared equally competitive on Friday in Holland. In Zandvoort, the Woking team brings the second package of developments after the one in Miami, with subtle but very important changes to the bottom, beam wing and suspension fairings. The team sacrifices the morning free practice to compare the old and new specifications between the two cars, also evaluating the new high-downforce rear wing, then kept in the afternoon. It is a McLaren that does not disappoint, confirming that it can compete on medium-low speed tracks, a chronic weak point only until a few months ago.
Red Bull chases
Max Verstappen starts his home Grand Prix with the fifth fastest time of the day, with a car far from having the advantage he enjoyed twelve months ago. Compared to 2023, Red Bull has made the most evident progress in the medium-low speed corners, predominant on the Dutch track, an area where McLaren has improved equally if not more. In previous seasons, Red Bull also stood out for efficiency, but lacked a peak aerodynamic load lower than the competition. Increasing it was not a priority in the genesis of the RB20, preferring to focus on other areas of performance, now paying the price on high-load tracks such as Monaco, Zandvoort and Singapore. It should also not be forgotten that in previous events Verstappen complained about the car’s poor rotation under braking when entering corners, an aspect that was even more penalising on the Dutch hairpins.
The world champion however stands out for the trajectories chosen in the curve 3 techniquecharacterized by a steep and progressive banking. Verstappen sacrifices a lot of the previous right bend, so as to be able to stay more external under braking. A choice that allows him to take the curve almost a meter higher than his opponents, making the car slide and applying less steering angle, to the advantage of the tires. A theoretically more effective technique, but which clashes with the two tenths of delay suffered by the Dutchman in the first sector. However, on other occasions Red Bull has already shown that it knows how to find a solution with the setup in extremis, without considering that the rain expected in qualifying could enhance the talent of the world champion.
Ferrari on defense
The Prancing Horse’s Red car shows a discreet lack of pace, with significant delays accumulated in all sectors. Carlos Sainz’s early return to the pits, betrayed by a gearbox failure, deprives Ferrari of precious data on which to evaluate possible set-up corrections. The Maranello team arrived in Holland aware of facing an unfriendly pathdominated by medium-slow corners that have never been the strong point of the SF-24, despite the progress on this front with the Barcelona package. In Holland the Reds are running without aerodynamic updates, but with a tweak to the third element of the front suspension to improve ride height control. Ferrari in any case hopes to make up ground during the night, also hoping for a drop in the wind.
The goal in Maranello will be to stay ahead of at least Aston Martin, Racing Bulls and Haas, all in the top 10 at the end of Friday. The performance of the Williams. The FW46 has slow corners as one of its strong points, but in Holland the British car can count on the first and very important package of updates, with both aerodynamic and weight gains. In Holland therefore there is certainly no shortage of topics of interest, in a Formula 1 now characterized by balance at the various levels of the standings.
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