The F1 is back after the summer vacation, and with it, the emotion with which the first part of the course ended. The parity on the track seems to be the highest between the three teams that fought for the final victories: McLaren, mercedes and the Red Bull said Max Verstappen, this time at the Dutchman’s house.
In his garden, in front of a dedicated fan who braved the morning rain and wind to fill the orange track and support their idol, Verstappen will not have an easy time. The Dutchman has always won since then Zandvoort back on the calendar in 2021. It was a driver layout, with two impressive corners, where Max was able to crush his rivals with his dominant Red Bull in previous appointments disputed here. But things have changed.
With a car that has had balance problems since Miami against rivals back at the top like McLaren and Mercedes, Max will have to whip out his wand again to work magic. He needs it like May water after being 5th in Free Practice 2 of the Netherlands GPthe first dry session of the weekend after the morning rain.
And their rivals were strong from the start. Russell led FP2 with his Mercedes with 61 thousandths of an advantage over Piastri’s McLaren, which brought many improvements to Zandvoort.
hamilton, The other Mercedes was third at 0″111 and Norrisfourth with his McLaren 0″259. while, Verstappen was 5th at 0″284. The fuel load and how much the candidates saved from the engine is not known, but Equality and uncertainty are great in front of a pole to which the rain will be added. More intrigue, doubt and the possibility of chaos and surprise in a match where at the moment a ‘Checo’ Pérez 12th at 0″8 is not expected.
Maybe Max can make himself a partner in the rain thanks to his hands to change things. Or maybe he just hid to strike a blow. But what appears at the first glance at the track is that the McLaren goes very well, on the tracks in any condition, as well as the Mercedes when the temperature is low. Max needs to be used thoroughly. He is playing at home but it looks like he has a lot against him.
Alonso, good start
Fernando Alonso finished the best of the rest, in sixth position, at 0″655. However, we will have to wait until Saturday to find out the true speed of each on a track where in previous seasons the green car has adapted well.
The above is missing Ferrarialready given Leclerc He was 9th and Sainz couldn’t set a competitive time because he had a gearbox problem in Free Practice 2. And so did Pérez with his Red Bull. But for now, Oviedo’s plan to enter the Top-10 seems well.
On Thursday he confirmed that the goal would be 9th or 10th although he wanted to take advantage of any opportunity, such as rain in qualifying. Although I warned that achieving those places with 4 such strong teams at the top is very difficult because other rivals are also pushing. The equality in that middle zone is also highest.
Breakdown for Sainz
In its part, The gearbox setback is big for Sainz, because he was left without testing the soft tires, which he did not test in Free Practice 1, and more importantly, He was left barely riding in a session with more representative conditions for Sunday’s race. You must row upstream from the ‘qualy’.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
