Lando Norris was the standout performer in the race pace simulation, incredibly fast with both tire compounds. Ferrari is struggling
The second practice session concludes, and it’s time to review how all 10 teams performed in preparation for Sunday’s race, which will start at 15:00. In the last race, almost a month ago, George Russell won on track but was later disqualified due to excellent tire management, which allowed him to make one fewer pit stop than the other drivers.
The Zandvoort circuit is certainly one of the most technical on the 2024 calendar and offers few overtaking opportunities. Therefore, tomorrow’s qualifying will be crucial, as well as the performance in a single lap. George Russell was the fastest, ahead of Piastri and Hamilton. Right behind the top 3 are Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, who, however, completed their laps on a less rubbered-in track. Leclerc only ninth, while Carlos Sainz had a disaster, as he practically missed the entire session due to gearbox issues.
Therefore, both qualifying and the weather will be crucial. Last year, rain played a significant role towards the end of the race, with several drivers making mistakes, including Pérez and Guanyu Zhou.
This weekend, Saturday is the day with the highest risk of precipitation, while the race is expected to be mainly characterized by challenging gusts of wind.
A race simulation phase, with Leclerc attacking Sergio Pérez.
The Monegasque driver spent much of the long run behind the Red Bull driver.
Race Pace Analysis FP2 Netherlands: Here are this afternoon’s times!
The standout performer in this afternoon’s race simulation was Lando Norris, who completed a very long simulation of 16 laps in total. Additionally, the British driver, like Max Verstappen, used both tire compounds, making a quick pit stop around the midpoint of the simulation.
Norris was particularly impressive in the race simulation with a fuller fuel tank, setting 9 very consistent laps, never going below 1:16, and showing no signs of tire degradation. In the second part of the simulation, he was still very fast but less consistent than Verstappen.
The home hero will likely be Norris’s main rival for the win on Sunday: he also showed minimal signs of tire degradation during the first long run and was very consistent with a slightly lighter fuel load, setting steady lap times around 1:15.
Race Pace Analysis FP2 Netherlands: Long Run Times (Part 1)
George Russell also had an excellent race simulation, having won on track in the last race in Belgium.
The first laps of his long run were even faster than those of Norris and Verstappen, but after the seventh lap, his times progressively increased, ending his simulation with a time of 1:17.728.
Instead, it was a very challenging afternoon for Ferrari, starting with gearbox issues on Carlos Sainz’s car, which prevented him from running for almost the entire session.
Additionally, Leclerc’s race simulation is difficult to interpret, as he first encountered traffic with Pérez and later with Ocon’s Alpine.
Nonetheless, some interesting times were recorded, although not at the level of Norris and Verstappen.
Regarding the midfield, the race simulations of Alexander Albon and Yuki Tsunoda are certainly noteworthy. They used the hard tire, which could be employed in the race, especially given the unexpected degradation observed this afternoon.
In particular, Albon, after setting the tenth-fastest time in the qualifying simulation, ran very fast and consistent laps until the final stint.
Williams showed impressive speed on this track in 2023, could they be a surprise again this year?
PHOTO: F1, GPKingdom.
