EL1 - Zandvoort: Mercedes in front, Verstappen on foot

After an ultra-difficult weekend in Belgium, Mercedes seemingly found a more favorable playing field in the Netherlands, as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton dominated an EL1 session marked by gearbox issues. speed of Max Verstappen.

Published on 02/09/2022 à 13:35

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EL1 – Zandvoort: Mercedes in front, Verstappen on foot

George Russell dominated free practice session 1. © Antonin Vincent / DPPI

The weekends follow one another and are not the same at home Mercedes. After taking a suitcase to Spa-Francorchamps last week on a tour, the brand with the star reappeared in much better shape near Zandvoort. George Russell indeed dominated free practice session 1 of the Dutch Grand Prix, ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton (+0″240) and Spanish Carlos Sainz (+0″390).

Also in the tough in Belgium, McLaren also found resources on the Dutch route. Lando Norris indeed set the 4th fastest time of the session, just ahead Daniel Ricciardo who completes the top 5 ahead Charles Leclerc (6th). On the other hand, you have to go down to 7th position to find trace of a Red Bull since Checo Perez charges almost a second of disbursement on Russell. The Mexican points right in front of the two Alpine de Fernando Alonso (+1″178) and Esteban Ocon (+1″508). Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) finished 14th, two seconds behind the reference time.

Max Verstappen victim of gearbox problem

Note that the first quarter of an hour of the session was led by the unfortunate Max Verstappen. Within the first seconds, the Dutchman received a friendly radio message from Christian Horner, the boss of Red Bull, who congratulated him on having been made Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau. "I don't know whether to call you Lord Max or Super Max from now on, but congratulations". "THANKS ! Just call me Max, like always!” retorted the Dutchman with a burst of laughter.

The Red Bull clan, however, quickly became disillusioned when after fifteen minutes, Verstappen stopped on the track at the exit of the banking area. The Dutchman immediately noticed a gearbox problem, and returned to the pits on foot to follow the rest of the session in front of the screens. Note that the seal of the Red Bull n°1 had been opened by Red Bull before the session in order to repair an element, without us knowing if it was the element in question which ended up failing. He will be back during Free Practice 2 at 16 p.m., and will not receive any penalties.