By Carlo Platella
Twenty-two seconds. This is the final advantage of Lando Norris’ McLaren over Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. A gap in line with that recorded in Budapest, a track similar in type to the Dutch one, but much heavier, if we consider how in Hungary the world champions were paying for a strategy that was not exactly happy. In Zandvoort, however, Norris and the MCL38 expressed a superiority of pace such as to overturn yet another pole position wasted at the start. The picture with nine races to go sees the McLaren absolutely a candidate for the world titlemanufacturers first and foremost. Ferrari will play the role of a wild card in this race, trusting in the arrival of updates and more favorable tracks to enter the fight at the top.
McLaren infallible in development
What was impressive on Sunday at Zandvoort were the 7 tenths per lap recorded before the pit stop by Verstappen after losing the pull of Norris’ DRS. In the second fraction the average advantage of the British driver was around 3 tenths per lap, with the unknown factor being how much the number 4 actually pushed without particular pressure. However, it would be premature to generalise the overwhelming superiority of the McLaren seen at Zandvoort. It cannot be ignored that the Dutch track is among those that most enhance the qualities of the MCL38. “Zandvoort, like Budapest and Barcelona, falls into the category of circuits characterised by long, medium-distance corners, which they adapt very well to the characteristics of our machine”commented Andrea Stella already on Saturday, instilling confidence in view of the trip to Brazil at the end of the year.
We must also consider the atypical nature of the weekend, conditioned by the wind and the actual running of only one free practice session on dry ground. The limited time for preparation on the track confirms McLaren’s ease of tuningan indication of a wide operating window and effective simulation tools. The 20 seconds on the finish line are therefore not exclusively due to the updates arrived in Holland, which nevertheless prove to be valid. “Since last year’s Austrian Grand Prix McLaren has brought updates that have always worked straight away,” observes Toto Wolff. The package and the victory at Zandvoort offer further confirmation of a team that is infallible in terms of development, exploited to transform the medium-slow curves from a weakness to a strength. All this instills further confidence in the upcoming updates expected by the end of the year, already announced by Andrea Stella.
Red Bull beaten but not tamed
Never before has the world title seemed like an achievable goal for McLaren, especially the constructors’ title, but be careful not to consider it a walk in the park. In Woking there is the awareness that in some areas Red Bull is still aheadabove all the efficiency in low downforce configuration and the incisiveness in the high-speed corners. There is therefore reason to expect a Red Bull certainly in better shape at Monza than at Zandvoort, one of the tracks least suited to the world champions. The RB20 does not stand out either in the maximum downforce configuration or in the medium-slow corners, as underlined in Holland by the repeated complaints of the drivers in the double hairpin 9-10.
To defend the world title, however, a response from development will be needed to improve the balance and widen the competitive range of the RB20. In Holland, the Milton Keynes team carried out comparisons with some old specifications of the floor, only to then run with the latest version or at least not prior to the one in Barcelona. “The good thing is that now we understand what happens in the car. Now it’s all a question of how quickly we can solve the problems, but we know what they are and what we’re missing.”reports Sergio Perez. Now a race for cover begins, to put Verstappen in a position to keep up with the McLarens even on less friendly tracks.
Racing horse
It is a Ferrari that comes back to life in the race in Holland, immediately understandable from the pressure that Leclerc manages to exert on Piastri during the first fraction. The proximity to McLaren opens the doors for the undercut, perfectly exploited to gain two positions thanks to Russell’s slow stop. In the second part of the race Ferrari continues to make remarkable progresswith Leclerc initially slower than Verstappen before closing in on him towards the end, keeping the gap unchanged overall. Sainz’s comeback was also positive, as he was able to overtake Perez’s Red Bull.
The Reds confirm the greater competitiveness in the race compared to qualifyingthis time accentuated by the difficulty on the single lap in getting the tyres up to temperature in the cool Zandvoort, a recurring theme during the season. “I don’t think it depends on the amount of fuel but on the tyres and how we turn them on in qualifying, perhaps to protect them in the race,” Sainz confirms. “Clearly today we managed to keep them alive and manage them by pushing quite hard, while the others were struggling a bit more.”
The aim is to find a better compromise between Saturday and Sunday, although Vasseur maintains that the situation, although reversed, is more balanced than last year. The podium at Zandvoort is still a positive result for a Ferrari that continues to have one of its main weaknesses in the medium-slow long-distance corners. It should be a different story next month in Monza, Baku and Singapore.The fact that we are better placed in the short corners will help us”, Vasseur anticipates.
Red variable
In addition to seeing a Ferrari theoretically revitalized by a friendlier track, the first updates from June should also arrive in Monza. The developments will certify how the Prancing Horse has clarified the origin of the bouncing problems suffered with the Barcelona floor. “I feel like we’re still a little behind in figuring that out.”, says a more cautious Sainz than the other voices from Maranello. “We hope that this new fund or at least the updates we will bring soon will make the problems disappear.”
It will also be interesting to evaluate the performance gain, both thanks to the increase in aerodynamic load and the possibility of adopting reduced ground clearances without having to contain the porpoising. “If we can make a leap of one or two tenths, everything will change.. But we also know that everyone is improving,” comments Vasseur. The leap that Ferrari will be able to make will also be relevant for the fight for the world championship. A more competitive Red could find itself ahead of Red Bull on some occasions, but also take points away from McLaren, as happened precisely at Zandvoort.
And then there is Mercedes, so convincing before the break and suddenly struggling in Holland.A box full of surprises” Toto Wolff defines it. “It doesn’t look like the car that did a double three weeks ago”. If the overheating of the tires had affected the performance in qualifying, the reading of the race becomes more complex. Wolff wonders how much the result depends on the track, the set-up or the updates, with the Spa bottom mounted on both cars. It is a Mercedes that is looking for answers, in a period in which the only one that does not seem to have questions is McLaren.
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