Insights from Dutch GP qualifying reveal candid reflections from drivers on performance, challenges, and strategies as they navigate the demanding Zandvoort circuit.
Norris Beats Verstappen for Pole at Dutch GP
Lando Norris secured pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix, surpassing Max Verstappen by over three-tenths of a second. The McLaren F1 driver expressed his delight after delivering such an exceptional performance.
“It was an incredible day; it’s gratifying to return and start with a pole. It was a beautiful lap, and the qualifying went well. I delivered some strong laps, especially the last one of the day, thanks to the team because we had a very good day,” stated the British driver.
“It’s harder than it looks. It’s tricky; you never know what to expect each lap or where you can push, but that’s our job. It isn’t easy, but the car is good, and the upgrades are working well.”
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow since the straight to the first corner is shorter than in Barcelona and Budapest! I’m eager for tomorrow, it will be challenging, Max is fast, and even though we beat him today, he will be quick; it’s going to be an interesting race.”
Piastri Secures 3rd Start Despite Final Lap Flaw
Oscar Piastri failed to make his last fast lap count but will still start third: “I just didn’t do a good job. The first half of the lap was good, the second wasn’t enough. The car is very fast this weekend, and it’s disappointing not to qualify higher.”
“However, the car is good, and we hope for points or even trophies tomorrow. The upgrades are doing what we expect; everything we put on the car is a good thing. It’s not the ideal conditions to say what they bring, but if the car is faster, I’m happy.”
The Australian hopes for a solid race and another strong result: “The pace seemed good on long runs, and we’ve been quick in recent weekends. We’re hoping for a good race tomorrow with a strong start, and we might play a significant part.”
Verstappen Settles for 2nd at Home, Eyes Race Pace
Max Verstappen conceded pole position to Lando Norris by three-tenths in front of his home crowd at Zandvoort. Without a mistake from Oscar Piastri, the Red Bull driver would likely have been third behind the McLaren F1 duo. He acknowledges that his RB20 currently lacks the performance to compete effectively.
“I think we lacked pace; I tried to do the best I could and I’m happy to be on the front row. It’s very tough with the wind, there are gusts every lap and it’s different so we have no reference. I’m happy to be second, after yesterday it’s a good result,” Verstappen stated.
When asked about the challenges of getting his car to perform effectively, the Dutch driver appeared resigned: “That’s just the way it is at the moment, the car isn’t easy to drive, but the rest of the lap was good, only turns 11 and 12 were difficult. I hope the car will be good tomorrow.”
Verstappen hopes for a good race pace tomorrow, but he still laments the inherent gap between his car and the MCL38: “We’ll try, but when you’re three-tenths off in qualifying, you have to be realistic.”
Leclerc’s Disappointment: 6th at Zandvoort, Eyes Upgrades
Charles Leclerc qualified sixth at Zandvoort, and the Ferrari driver did not hide his disappointment. A particular concern for the Scuderia is the gap to pole position, which stands at nearly a second for him.
“The precise explanation for the nine-tenths, if we had it, we would have done things differently. But we don’t, and it hurts. It’s been a while since we were last in the pace of the top teams in front, but nine-tenths on a short circuit, that hurts,”.
“We need to work, unfortunately, I find myself repeating this often this year but that’s the situation. We are trying everything to improve but it’s not working at the moment. I hope the upgrades we are bringing soon will help us compete for the podium.”
The Monegasque sets modest goals for the race: “We need to chase points, limit the damage during this difficult period, but improving beyond sixth place will be challenging if it’s a trouble-free race.”
Sainz Misses Q3, Hopes to Recover from Gearbox Woe
Carlos Sainz didn’t even see Q3 after being eliminated in 11th place, and the Spaniard pays dearly for his gearbox issue in FP2, during the only session where drivers could run relatively normally.
“It’s been a bad weekend so far, given that we couldn’t run in the dry, and very little in the wet. We didn’t do the runs that others did in FP2, I was behind and I paid the price. I had traffic and that compounded the issue,” Sainz stated.
“I’m confident we can climb a bit, we have the fourth fastest car so we can’t do much better, but if I can move up to the top 8, it will give me some points.”
Red Bull’s Perez Overcomes Wind, Clinches 5th Place
Sergio Perez is pleased with his 5th place on the grid at Zandvoort.
The Red Bull driver, who had a challenging period before the summer break, is back in the right pack.
“The break did us good. We were able to understand our problems, and the weekend has confirmed this.”
“Everything looks very promising. I think we have a good second half of the season ahead of us.”
“This session was not easy with the wind, I was hindered by Lewis but I think I achieved a good result. It’s a good comeback for me, to be confirmed tomorrow.”
Russell Clinches 4th at Zandvoort; Hamilton Faces Setback
George Russell secured fourth place in qualifying at Zandvoort and, although the Mercedes F1 driver had hoped for better, he is pleased to have achieved as good a time as possible, despite being outpaced by the McLaren drivers and Max Verstappen.
“Absolutely, it’s always a bit challenging, psychologically, when you take to the track and it’s not as you would like,” Russell stated. “You have to reset; the end of Q1 was good, as was Q2 behind the McLarens. Q3 a bit less so, but fourth place is a good result.”
“Anything is possible in the race; McLaren is still a bit ahead of everyone else. We are doing a good job with the developments, but McLaren is evolving at the same pace as us. And we’re moving away from the rest of the pack, getting closer to Red Bull, and McLaren has already overtaken them.”
Hamilton’s Frustrating Qualifying: Eliminated in Q2
Lewis Hamilton grapples with a disappointing Q2 elimination and 12th place finish at Zandvoort, despite efforts to navigate through a challenging session.
For Lewis Hamilton, the shock of being eliminated in Q2 and only managing 12th fastest was palpable: “It was quite a frustrating session. These things happen, and it’s happened before, but I don’t feel good.”
“Everything went wrong from the moment with Perez. I did my best to stay out of the way, I was as far to the left as possible, but the timing was off.”
“It was a domino effect; it went from bad to worse, I was no longer in the rhythm.”
“We have the potential this weekend, but sometimes the preparation for the lap is crucial.”
“I lost the rear a bit in the first corner, had issues in the tenth, so the car wasn’t perfect, but that could also be due to the tyres not being warmed up properly.”
Toto Wolff, the team director, admitted he “had hoped for better” than 12th place for Hamilton and 4th for George Russell after their performances in free practice.
“Looking at the previous sessions, we were almost always among the top three. And then, we had a car that was on the razor’s edge.”
“It was very difficult to manage for them throughout the lap. A lot of understeer, sudden oversteer, and once you exceed these temperature thresholds, you no longer have performance. That’s why we had that odd moment where Lewis is eliminated in Q2.”
“George finished 4th, I think he probably did the maximum, but we are not satisfied with this performance.”
Williams Rebounds: Albon 8th Amid Sargeant’s Crash Drama
This Saturday at Zandvoort proved to be a challenging day for the Williams F1 team, but it concluded with a reason to smile as Alex Albon achieved his best qualifying result of 2024 so far.
The day again started in the rain. After completing his first fast lap in Free Practice 3, Logan Sargeant slid onto the grass at the exit of turn three, resulting in a sudden spin into the barriers and a severe impact.
His FW46 quickly caught fire, and fortunately, Sargeant was unharmed and able to quickly escape from his car, but the damage to his vehicle was significant.
Williams F1 attempted to repair the American’s car in time for qualifying, but it was a tight call and they could not make the deadline.
“It was a small mistake with big consequences, just a touch on the grass and that’s it. Obviously, a big shock but I’m okay. There’s a lot to fix on the car, so I’m sorry for everyone working on getting it ready for tomorrow. All we can do is regroup and try to have a good race.”
Meanwhile, Alex Albon comfortably made it through Q1, then Q2, and finally Q3, securing a commendable 8th place on the grid for tomorrow’s Dutch Grand Prix.
“I’m really happy with this 8th place and our improvements that helped us secure this position.”
“There was a lot of wind and gusts, and it seems that if you’re 10 seconds behind another car, it might be experiencing a completely different wind from yours and that was half-seconds lost or gained in this wind, it was a bit like the lottery.”
“We’ve made a significant step forward with the weight as well as aerodynamic improvement even though it’s not yet the complete package. There’s more to come soon, so everything looks positive. The car was solid and improved with each lap, so it’s great to get this result in today’s conditions and see the improvements working well.”
“We can all be happy, so a big thank you to the team for working hard to get the updates ready. We’ll be competitive tomorrow, I feel confident.”
Aston Martin’s Alonso Targets Top 10 Finish at Dutch GP
Fernando Alonso secured an impressive seventh place in qualifying at Zandvoort. The Aston Martin F1 driver is pleased with his starting position and hopes to finish in the top 10 in tomorrow’s race.
“I’m quite happy. I struggled throughout qualifying, had issues with the car because of the gusts. My best lap was in Q3 when there was the least wind, and that’s always what you aim for. Seventh place is good, we’ll see what we can do tomorrow,” Alonso stated.
“Both cars are starting in the points and that will be the goal tomorrow. There’s a Ferrari and a Mercedes behind us and it’s unrealistic to think we will finish ahead of them. But if we can keep the Williams and the Alpine behind us, we will score points and that’s the aim.”
Stroll Secures Ninth Grid Spot, Aims for Points
Lance Stroll also made it to Q3 and will start ninth on the grid, pleasing the Canadian: “I had a very good Q2, setting a purple first sector and finishing that session in fourth place.”
“I couldn’t replicate that in my single fast lap in Q3. I pushed hard but got a bit into trouble. Nonetheless, having two cars in Q3 is a good result for the team.”
“The changes we made before qualifying were positive and we managed the session well. We have faster cars behind us tomorrow, but it can be hard to overtake here, so we should be able to fight for good points from ninth place.”
Alpine’s Gasly Secures Q3 Spot, Outperforms Expectations
Pierre Gasly delivered one of the standout performances of the day at Zandvoort. The Alpine F1 driver qualified in tenth place after reaching Q3, and he openly admitted he hadn’t expected such strong results.
“I’m really pleased; yesterday was a tough day, the feeling wasn’t very good, and we knew getting into Q2 was going to be tough before qualifying. We focused on ourselves, making good out-laps, not overdoing it,”.
“I managed to put in good laps when it mattered. We made it to Q3 ahead of a Ferrari and a Mercedes. That was the best we could do with the car, and the next challenge is to score points tomorrow.”
Ocon Frustrated with Q1 Exit, Cites Car Issues
Esteban Ocon was dissatisfied after his elimination in Q1, revealing that his A524 was not performing as it had before the summer break. He lamented part changes that had adversely affected his car’s handling.
“I said yesterday that it was going to be a very difficult weekend if we didn’t find what was wrong with the car, and we found nothing. So, we are in the same position as yesterday, at the back of the grid,” Ocon fumed.
“The risks we need to take to get a bit of performance mean we don’t finish the lap. It’s not a normal qualifying where you progress and take risks trying to do your best, but it didn’t work.”
“There’s something not right with this car. We’ve changed everything, we had a car that was working at Spa, we switched to another chassis, another floor, and everything is different on this car.”
“These are recurring issues that keep happening again and again since the start of my five seasons here, it’s disappointing but we need to keep motivated, stay focused, and try to fix the problem.”
He explained his mindset: “You have to optimize your weekend and think ahead. This weekend is dead for us. You never know what might happen but starting from here, I think it’s over, and we will try to understand what went wrong this weekend.”
Haas Faces Tough Qualifying; Financial Relief Possible
Haas F1 Team drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen qualified 14th and 15th respectively for the Dutch Grand Prix.
However, there is potentially good news for Haas F1—still to be confirmed by the team—that their former title sponsor Uralkali has reportedly initiated a transfer, which could prevent the seizure of the cars and equipment.
On track, no VF-24 in Q3 for the restart, with Nico Hulkenberg experiencing an off-track excursion in Free Practice 3 this morning.
“It was tough in qualifying, and the wind really picked up again in the afternoon, but it was the first clean run I had managed all weekend. All other sessions I had were disrupted, and preparing for qualifying was very challenging.”
“At least now, I’ve managed some clean laps and it was pretty decent. I’m not too unhappy with how qualifying went, but there’s always the feeling that we missed a lot yesterday and we are somewhat behind our rivals. Tomorrow will be a challenge as I haven’t had much track time, so I will need to see how the car behaves, respond correctly, and make the most of it.”
Kevin Magnussen expressed, “I’m a bit disappointed, we felt we could have been slightly better.”
“We’ve fallen to the back of this small group between 10th and 15th place, unfortunately, so there is still potential to do something tomorrow, but it will require a good pace, and I hope we can achieve that. It’s so tight; I hope things will turn in our favour and that we will have an opportunity. Being in 15th place makes things more difficult tomorrow, but there are still points on the table.”
Bottas Faces Tough Qualifying, Winds Up 18th
Valtteri Bottas acknowledged that it had been a challenging day for Stake F1 as he qualified 18th at the Dutch Grand Prix. The team struggled due to the wind, which significantly affected the Sauber C44.
“When you look at the result, it’s not where we want to be; we aimed to make progress. The weekend was tough, and when the wind picked up during qualifying, it exacerbated our weaknesses. We would have been better off this morning with less wind; the car is sensitive and not easy to drive, but I extracted the maximum from it,” Bottas stated.
The Finnish driver admitted that the race would not be straightforward: “It won’t be an easy day, but we are approaching it ready to fight. There are always opportunities, and we will give it our all.”
Guanyu Zhou Puzzled by Qualifying Dip After Car Changes
Guanyu Zhou was no more satisfied after finishing 19th: “I felt that was the case, but it was strange. We changed the car last night to make me more comfortable, and in qualifying, as the track dried, we lost pace. It was a difficult session, each lap was complicated, the tyres were overheating after turn 3.”
The Chinese driver hopes to understand the source of his difficulties before the race: “It will be tough, things were better yesterday, but we need to review the direction we took today and figure out what happened.”
Tsunoda Misses Q3 by a Tenth, Settles for 13th Place
Yuki Tsunoda was just a tenth away from qualifying for Q3 but ultimately finished 13th, admitting his disappointment at not finding enough performance to make the cut. However, he remains optimistic about his prospects for tomorrow’s race.
“I’m clearly disappointed. It was tight behind the tenth place, but I was happy with my lap. We simply lacked pace, and it was a step back from the good performance we had in FP2. I struggled in Q1 and had to give everything to reach Q2. We need to understand what went wrong,” Tsunoda said.
“It’s not a bad position to aim for points. The weather has been very unpredictable, and we saw last year that rain can arrive suddenly. My long-run pace isn’t bad, and I’ll need to maximise it.”
Tsunoda Misses Q3 by a Tenth, Settles for 13th Place
Daniel Ricciardo, knocked out in Q1, was somewhat disheartened as he stepped out of the car: “I don’t feel great, that’s for sure. Q1 goes by quickly, and if you’re not on pace, it’s over. I’m not sure why we struggled, but it is what it is, and there’s not much more to say.”
“We found some things last night that were encouraging. Everything seemed fine for today, but the morning was hard to read, and I’m not sure where we lost it. The wind made it tricky for everyone, and we struggled more towards the end, leaving us far from where we should be.”
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