McLaren sets the tone in Zandvoort on Friday and brings a lot of fun for his two Formula 1 drivers. Fine for the team after boxing.
McLaren started strongly on the Zandvoort weekend: Lando Norris secured the best time in second free training, while team-mate Oscar Piatri was only 0.089 seconds slower and thus finished third. The clear pace of the British underlines the team’s form curve in the course of the season and sets an exclamation mark for the top ranges in the training sessions.
“Well, that’s a distance to come back! It is quick – the lap times today was not far away from my pole from the previous year,” Norris comments on his impressions after the session. “This is a small shock for the body to drive again on such a high-speed route.”
“But yes, today was a good day,” he says. “The car was good, and we made some good improvements from FT1 to FT2. At the same time it seemed that the others made a little more caught up than we loved. Even Aston and Fernando [Alonso] were strong – as recently anyway. So it’s a good start, but at the moment narrower than we would like. “
Despite the difficult conditions, including interruptions by red flags, McLaren was able to collect valuable data. “I would say we got a good understanding, maybe not everything we wanted – but nobody probably has that. You just have to work with what you have,” Norris continues.
“We have gathered good information, some things we can look at and improve for tomorrow – both in the qualifying trim and with a lot of fuel,” he says.
“But you never know how the conditions are tomorrow. It should rain, rain is also possible on Sunday. Actually, it would have been nice to drive a few laps in the wet today to prepare. But good, it will be more exciting tomorrow.”
Piatri quickly back in rhythm
Piatri is also satisfied with the first day in Zandvoort: “Overall, a pretty good day. We improved a lot during the day, found more trust and also approved some time – that is of course always nice. There are a few things to sort like after every Friday, but overall it was a positive day back,” says the Australian.
Video: “Zandvoort can adapt to Oranje Festival”
The 24 -year -old also thinks that finding the rhythm of the route was easy: “Yes, it was actually quite easy to get back in. Everything feels a bit quick at the first rounds, especially here – this is a distance that is immediately punished if you risk too much. But overall it was quick to find the rhythm again.”
“Sure, it was a bit stop-and-go with the red flags, but I rapidated myself again quickly and set up the day step by step.”
Fine for McLaren after pit incident
There was a small moment of shock for the World Cup leader in the pit lane, where he was collided with Mercedes-Pilot George Russell. Piatri wanted to go into the box to his McLaren boys, but because the entrance through a mechanic was blocked with a jack, he drove back to the fast lane to turn his team a few meters further back
He himself calls it “not a big drama”, but he drove into the path of the Mercedes of Russell, who put a full braking.
The commissioners grumbled a fine of 5,000 euros to the team because it signaled Piatri to drive around the crew, which could have ended in a collision or even personal injury. In terms of sport, however, this has no further effects, so that McLaren can concentrate fully on their own performance.
With a view to the competition, Norris sees Aston Martin Schnell: “You are never far away in the second training session, often and quite consistently quite neat. And you have certainly increased. They were already pretty quick in Budapest. So not a big surprise,” he says.
“At the moment they look like the fastest, but Max [Verstappen] Is definitely not far away – it was on tougher tires that don’t work so well, “said the Brit.” Ferrari looked a bit weaker today, but that is often the case with them – and on Saturday they are still back. We just concentrate on ourselves and then we see what happens. “