Zandvoort Friday in analysis: Sprint pole for George Russell

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That brings us to the end of our live ticker today. The sprint is scheduled for tomorrow at 12:00, and of course, we will be back in time with a new edition for you. Additionally, the qualifying for the Grand Prix awaits us at 16:00.

Have a nice evening and see you then!

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One small note: Carlos Sainz received a warning for driving too slowly in the sprint qualifying. Here is the race stewards’ verdict in full:

“Car 55 had to let car 16 pass before turn 13, which affected his lap time delta. Afterwards, the driver accelerated to make up time before entering the pit lane but still reached Safety Car Line 1 with a time about five seconds over the prescribed maximum time.”

“The driver explained that he could not accelerate the car as desired because the vehicle’s battery was empty but also admitted that he could have done more to make up time before entering the pit lane.”

“The stewards acknowledge the difficulties related to energy management but agree with the driver that he could have done more to control his time difference and therefore decide that a warning for the driver is appropriate.”

Although both Aston Martin drivers were eliminated in SQ1, Shintaro Orihara from Honda says: “We were able to see an improvement between the old version [of the power unit] and the update.”

“In both sessions, we completed the full distance without reliability issues and confirmed how the power unit integrates into the Aston Martin chassis.”

“In the sprint qualifying, we identified some areas needing improvement, especially in the data settings for driving behavior,” Orihara admits.

The two drivers had already complained about this. “HRC Sakura will analyze the data overnight and conduct bench tests to optimize these parameters for the rest of the weekend,” Orihara announces.

The Japanese driver is satisfied with his comeback. He reports: “The car is noticeably different from previous years, especially in high-speed sections. So it was sometimes difficult.”

“But I am happy with my result in the sprint qualifying. There are still a few areas where I can improve and learn more, but I enjoy the format.”

“The main goal now is tomorrow’s qualifying, so I will continue to improve in every session and hope that we can bring everything together when it counts tomorrow,” says Tsunoda.

Teammate Arvid Lindblad is also happy with P10. “It was a positive Friday. I’m driving in Zandvoort for the first time, so it wasn’t easy, especially on a sprint weekend,” says the rookie.

“I’m really happy with my lap in SQ2, but not so much with SQ3,” he says, adding: “There are a few things we will discuss with the team tonight, and hopefully, we can make another step forward for tomorrow.”

The German was seventh in practice but only finished P14 in sprint qualifying. He reports: “It was a day with two very different sessions. FP1 went positively. I had a good feeling for the car and we seemed well set up.”

“In sprint qualifying, the feeling was different, and I didn’t have the same grip, which made it harder to find the same ‘sweet spot’ as in the morning. We will look at what changed between the two sessions.”

Teammate Gabriel Bortoleto made it to SQ3 and finished ninth. “FP1 was already promising, and after some fine-tuning, we could make another step forward in sprint qualifying,” he says happily.

“Since we start the sprint from P9 tomorrow, our goal is to fight into the points. It will be a tough battle, but I am confident about what we can achieve from there,” says Bortoleto.

The pole sitter explains: “The summer break came at the right time. It gave me the chance to switch off and start this weekend with new momentum. I came here with an open mindset.”

“Since my confidence wasn’t necessarily at its highest, I tried to approach this weekend like the first race of the season: not overthinking and focusing on the essentials.”

“So far, that seems to be working well,” says Russell, who knows: “The really decisive moment is tomorrow’s Grand Prix qualifying. McLaren looks very fast, and Ferrari also seems strong based on what we saw in the first practice.”

Andrew Shovlin also warns: “Regarding performance, we still need to analyze some things. We don’t look particularly strong in the faster corners. So we need to find out why before qualifying.”

“Also, in our long run in the first practice, we were a bit behind Ferrari’s pace. Tomorrow morning, we’ll see if that’s really the case. It’s definitely very close, and we have to get the maximum out of the W17 if we want to win on Sunday.”

The championship leader reports after P5 today: “On my first lap in SQ1, I went into the last corner with a bit too much speed and caused damage to the car. That cost us some performance.”

Andrew Shovlin from Mercedes says about his rescue: “Kimi went off track at turn 13 in SQ1 due to a tailwind gust.” The Italian himself emphasizes: “Although the team did their best with the repair, I had big difficulties in the slow corners.

“Once you experience such a scare, it can be difficult to rebuild confidence and put everything together,” he explains.

“Nevertheless, the gaps were very small, so we can take positives from the sprint qualifying. We will now focus on running the best possible sprint race,” says Antonelli.

He knows, however: “That will be difficult because the field at the front is very close, and overtaking won’t be easy.”

His off-track moment is available here again in the video:

The conclusion for the US team is similar to Williams. “I think we couldn’t have done more today,” says Esteban Ocon, who at least made it to SQ2 and finished 15th there.

“The car felt good, and there were no particular problems,” he reports. It looked very different for teammate Oliver Bearman. The Brit was already out in SQ1 as 17th.

“FP1 was not productive for us at all, and we had lots of problems with the front wing, so we were a bit in the dark before sprint qualifying,” he reports.

“I was actually quite happy with the lap but left a bit of time on the track, especially in turn 11,” says Bearman, who already writes off the sprint.

“The goal remains the race on Sunday, as that is our biggest chance to score points. Therefore, the sprint doesn’t play a big role in terms of position but does in terms of insights for the main race,” he emphasizes.

At least one car made it to SQ2 today. That is already a success for Williams. “Overall, it was not a bad Friday, especially considering how our pace was in the first practice,” summarizes Alexander Albon after P16.

“We know we won’t be among the top eight tomorrow, but that’s not really our focus at the moment. It’s more about making sure we get the best out of the car we have this weekend until the upgrades arrive,” says Albon.

Teammate Carlos Sainz was out in SQ1 as 18th and speaks of a “tough day.” He explains: “In the first practice, I had balance problems and damaged the floor when going through the gravel at turn 13.”

“From then on, I couldn’t learn much from that session and had to change some parts before sprint qualifying. The session was very tight, and I didn’t really find the right feeling for the car,” says Sainz.

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Alpine returned from the summer break with a strong eighth place. Pierre Gasly was at the front of the midfield today. The Frenchman himself says they are much more competitive than in the races before the break.

“The first signs of the upgrade package are positive, and I definitely felt comfortable in the car in both sessions today,” he reports and explains: “It feels much stronger, offers more grip, and the car responds well to my driving commands.”

Teammate Franco Colapinto does not have the new parts in Zandvoort and finished P13 today. “Of course, it’s a bit more difficult for me, but I felt I drove a very good lap today,” he emphasizes.

He is supposed to get the new parts in Monza as well.

The teammate is not happy with P7, but Leclerc emphasizes: “I would rather start first, but in the end, I am very satisfied with today because honestly, I think it was one of the best, if not my best qualifying lap this year.”

That is proof that steps have been made in the right direction, says Leclerc, who felt comfortable in the car right from the training. “I think it looks like a positive start to the weekend for now,” he says optimistically.

Now, of course, we have to see how the rest of the weekend develops.

The Hadjar replacement was out in SQ2 as eleventh and ponders: “Normally, you improve during qualifying. And we started quite strong in SQ1. But then we didn’t make the same step as everyone else.”

“We will of course take a closer look at that,” he says and adds that he currently has no explanation for it. Apart from that, he felt “pretty good” in the Red Bull today, he emphasizes.

That’s why the result is especially “frustrating” because they had the potential to be further up.

Andrea Stella is happy with the new parts this weekend and explains to Sky satisfied: “They work well again.” However, he reminds that Ferrari also has an update. Therefore, the second half of the season will be “very interesting.”

Oscar Piastri explains after P4: “The lap on the soft was not quite as good.” Because he had finished SQ1 on the medium in P1. “I feel that this year it is often the case that when you put on the soft tires, the balance is not quite as good as with the medium,” says Piastri.

Nevertheless, he is “much happier” than in practice – even if a better lap might have made pole possible. In the end, he was only 0.099 seconds short.

One small note, since we are anyway in the back of the field: An investigation has been opened against Carlos Sainz because he allegedly drove unnecessarily slowly once during qualifying.

A penalty would not matter much anyway because he only finished 18th.

With the new Honda engine, they should have moved further forward. In reality, it was only P19 and P22 for Aston Martin. For Alonso, among other things, a defective straight mode caused him to be last.

However, that was not the only problem today. “I think more was possible today. We had problems with driveability, and there were a few other things that weren’t quite right,” reports Stroll.

Alonso confirms: “In practice, everything seemed to be going well for us, but then we had some driveability problems in sprint qualifying, and it was sometimes difficult to stop the car.”

There is apparently still some need for improvement with the new engine.

The world champion can live with P2 and explains: “I am quite satisfied, it is still a good position. It was a decent lap. Considering how close it was, I could just as well have been first – or fourth or fifth.”

Nevertheless, he is “of course a bit disappointed that I ended up P2 instead of P1.” He explains that after switching to the soft tires in SQ3, he perhaps did not get the maximum out of the tires.

“Maybe I could have pushed a bit more, but otherwise, the car performed well and seems to continue its strong performance from Budapest,” he says confidently.

“There are many positive aspects, and hopefully, that continues for the rest of the weekend,” says Norris.

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