The leader of the World Cup surpasses Leclerc and Sainz, while Alonso falls for the first time in Q1 and starts thirteenth.
In unison roared Zandvoort with the pole of Max Verstappen, the fourth of this World Cup which will soon end. The volume of the loudspeakers exploded as a tribute to the idol and they clenched their fists in the Red Bull garage. There they had worked hard at dawn to recover the car from its mechanical problems and leave the rest in the hands of their leader. With such a party in the stands, Verstappen fulfilled his part (1: 10,342), with 21 thousandths over charles leclerc and 92 to Carlos Sainz.
“We have changed a lot of things and once again I felt great pleasure behind the wheel,” he admitted. mad max just get out of the car. There was sincere joy in his smile, because at the last moment he had managed to shake off the Ferraris, while sergio prez suffered a bad spin at turn 7 that ruined the improvement of George Russell Y Lewis Hamilton.
Leclerc held his own until the end, leading Q3 with 59 thousandths against Verstappen. On this narrow and winding track, Ferrari knew of its options and wanted to save the best bullets. However, that alone is not enough against the next champion, always punctual with his genius when the moment requires it.
pigeons and flares
Sainz, from less to more, ended up nailing a lap without errors that leaves him in a good position for the race. In Q2 he had even allowed himself to lead the table (1:10.814) with almost a tenth over Verstappen, who was riding on used tires.
The management of the tires, exposed to overheating, will be as important tomorrow as the strategy, given the difficulty of each overtaking. Fernando Alonsofrom the thirteenth step of the grid, it will be enough to catch a point.
Nothing flattering is presented on Sunday for the two-time champion on these North Sea beaches, as far as the pigeons also approach. The birds must find something appetizing because already during the morning free session, Russell had warned of their presence at the seventh corner. At the start of Q2, the stewards had to hurry to chase them away, while other teammates removed a flare thrown by a fan from the asphalt.
Surprises in Q2
The red flag gave way to appearances by Lance Stroll Y Mike Schumacher, determined to sit at the same table as the favorites with an Aston Martin and a Haas, respectively. When the board is shaken that much, someone obviously has to get hurt. And this time it was Alpine.
Alonso knew he was in trouble, aware that he would have to polish his Q1 time (1:11.667) in the face of fierce competition from McLaren and AlphaTauri. As only 54 thousandths better and since his last attempt was hampered by Perez, the two-time champion fell out of the top-10 for the third time in 15 races. He couldn’t this time either. Stephen Oconhis garage buddy, who will start twelfth behind Pierre Gasley.
The Spanish had been forced to make an extra effort in Q1 due to the extraordinary progression of the track, at almost 40C on its surface. Under those conditions, yuki tsunoda was able to sneak in third, Stroll seventh and alexander albin tenth, with the consequent general astonishment. The top-15 was concentrated in just half a second and the rope almost tightened the neck of Sainz, who could only improve the time of Guanyu Zhou.
According to the criteria of
Know more
