On Track

Top 10 start for Lance for the Dutch Grand Prix

Lance will start from row five for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort – but both his and Sebastian's qualifying sessions had the potential for more on Saturday.

Lance will start inside the top 10 for the second successive race, but a hydraulic issue for him at the start of Q3, and another driver's incident hampering Sebastian, meant that more was on the table today.

Lance

Focusing primarily on performance runs, Lance added 18 laps to his weekend's tally in Free Practice Three, with a best time of 1.12.773 to end up 12th fastest.

In the opening qualifying session, Lance started with two fast laps on his first set of tyres, posting a best time of 1.12.036 on that set.

With his second set, he did one flying lap, which was a 1.11.568, to comfortably make his way into the second section.

Practice report by Aramco

A strong start to proceedings at Zandvoort

Lance showed top-six pace on the opening day of running at the Dutch Grand Prix.

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In Q2, Lance's found an extra bit of time in the lap on his first run to put a 1.11.416 on the board, including a very fast first sector.

His abandoned his second run after locking up at Turn One, but his first attempt was quick enough to graduate him into Q3.

There, a hydraulic issue prevented Lance from going out in the final part of qualifying, limiting him to 10th on the grid for the race.

"It is a shame that we had the hydraulic issue in Q3 because we had the pace for a top-eight result today – and that would have been great given our recent difficulties in qualifying.

"The car was really fun to drive today – the team has done a fantastic job with the set-up and balance, so it is great to see everyone being rewarded for their efforts.

"This starting position should give us a good chance to score some decent points in the Grand Prix tomorrow."

Sebastian

Saturday started with plenty of running in FP3 for Sebastian – focusing primarily on Soft-tyre running.

His first effort was a 1.13.455, before improving to a 1.12.491 later in the session.

By the end of the hour, he had completed 25 laps and finished eighth overall.

Sebastian had two attempts on his first qualifying lap on new Soft tyres. His first effort was a 1.12.563, before he pitted for a slight wing adjustment.

He returned to the track and improved to a 1.12.391.

Taking to the track at the end of the session on another set of new Soft tyres, Sebastian was flying – going fastest in the first sector and improving on his personal best in the second.

However, sand was brushed onto the track by another driver running wide in the final part of the lap, and this unsettled Sebastian's car as he approached the final braking point.

He ran off the circuit and couldn't improve his lap-time, which until that point was on course to safely take him into Q2. Ultimately, he ended up 19th fastest.

"On my final Q1 lap, I picked up some sand on my left-side wheels on the entry to Turn 13. I do not know which car threw it up – but I was the one who got caught out by it.

"At that point, you are really focused on the apex kerb on the right – I was not trying anything fancy – and I just drifted off-line and lost the car.

"You could say I got caught out by the ‘zand' in Zandvoort…

"My pace up until that point had looked very good – that last lap was easily good enough for Q2, and I think we could possibly have got to Q3 too. A shame.

"And that just makes things harder for tomorrow because we will basically start last. We will see if we can find a smart strategy solution – but it is probably going to be a long afternoon."

Mike Krack, Team Principal

"Sebastian was on a quick lap in Q1 when he arrived at Turn 13 to find the racing line coated with dust kicked up by the car that had run wide just ahead of him.

"As a result, he too ran wide and lost the lap. That is racing, but it is frustrating all the same.

"Lance was also really ‘on it' in Q1 – a strong P7 – and again in Q2 despite locking up at Turn One at the start of his second fast lap – a fine P8 – then in Q3 we suffered a lack of hydraulic pressure which prevented him from being able to go out again.

"All in all, it was a frustrating session but both our drivers showed strong pace and will therefore approach tomorrow's race with controlled ambition."