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THE DAY ON
TRACK:
The first day of track action at Zandvoort was a busy one, even if both free
practice sessions were briefly stopped once because of cars having gone off
the track and into the gravel trap or the barriers. Lando Norris was
quickest overall in his McLaren, setting the best time in the second
session, getting round the 4.259 kilometre track in 1:11.330, one second
quicker than the best time in the corresponding session at last year’s Grand
Prix, which was set by Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari in 1:12.345.
This weekend is being run to the standard format and the teams worked to
well-established programmes, especially in FP2 when, after a few more stints
with relatively low fuel loads, they concentrated on running in race trim,
doing quite long runs. For example, 18 laps were completed by Esteban Ocon
(Alpine) and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) on the Hard and Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
on the Soft.
The track was very dirty at the start of the day, which is to be expected
with a track located amongst the sand dunes just a few hundred metres from
the North Sea. Conditions evolved very rapidly as the cars put in the laps,
a process which will also continue significantly tomorrow and Sunday,
bearing in mind that the weather could still play a part.
Simone Berra: Chief Engineer:
“All in all, this was a very useful day for us because we were able to
gather a lot of data relating to the three compounds we have brought to
Zandvoort, both on short and long runs. Compared to last year, we have a new
Hard – the C1 – which from what we saw today is degrading much less, even
though it was used mainly in FP1 when the track surface was still very dirty
and provided very little grip. The relatively cooler temperatures could make
the softest compound, the C3, a more plausible race tyre. The situation is
therefore very open when it comes to Sunday’s tyre choice, which means a
more interesting and uncertain weekend is in prospect. In terms of the gaps
between the compounds, the rapid track evolution means it is not yet
possible to come up with reliable estimates, while one should also consider
that the forecast says there is a significant chance of rain, especially for
tomorrow, which is another unknown factor to take into consideration." |
