After just a few minutes, Max Verstappen had to park his Red Bull in the first free practice session at Zandvoort. Friday (September 2nd, 2022) before the Dutch Grand Prix went much better for Ferrari.
With his helmet on, Max Verstappen waved to his “Oranje” fans in Zandvoort and trotted to the paddock on foot. The world champion experienced a stuttering start in his Formula 1 home game.
The 24-year-old complained about problems with the gearbox after just seven laps. “Ah crap”, Verstappen radioed. A crane had to tow his car. The first practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix has been temporarily suspended. For Verstappen, on the other hand, the one-hour session was completely over. The championship leader lost so important time and was only penultimate.
With new gearbox 0.7 seconds slower than the Scuderia
With a new gearbox, things went a little smoother in the second unit. However, he was only eighth, almost 0.7 seconds behind. Charles Leclerc (1:12.345 minutes) snatched the best time of the day ahead of his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, who was a tiny 0.004 seconds slower. “There is not enough grip, the traction is not optimal”said Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko on “Sky”, “We’ve gotten significantly worse than Spa. We have to sort out our problems.”
Record world champion Lewis Hamilton was missing the touch of 0.072 seconds on Leclerc in third place. Haas driver Mick Schumacher, who is fighting for a 2023 cockpit, was 13th. Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin landed right behind.
Hamilton: “Race pace is the key”
“The radio isn’t working again”, Hamilton complained over the team radio during practice. Otherwise, the Mercedes man reeled off his workload. Hamilton wants to forget the crash a week ago in Spa.
“We don’t have the pace over a single lap but race pace is definitely key at some points”said Hamilton. It’s about that “Not to lose racing potential” and to try that “Improving pace over the individual laps”. The Scuderia initially set the pace.
Verstappen won at Zandvoort last year. At that time, the course in the coastal town had returned to the Formula 1 calendar after 36 years. The Dutchman is currently 93 points ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez in the 15th race of the season on Sunday (3:00 p.m. / live ticker at sportschau.de).