This is what the teams think after qualifying GP Netherlands | ‘Can strange things happen at Zandvoort’
In ‘This is what the teams think…’ directs F1Maximum the sights on the water smaller teams in Formula 1: Alpine, Aston Martin, Williams, Alfa Romeo and Haas. Below you can read what the drivers of the relevant racing stables have to say about their recent performance on the track.
alpine
Alpine did not have a fantastic qualifying session at the Zandvoort circuit. Esteban Ocon had the best Saturday of the two drivers of the French stable, but he did not get further than P12. “It was a difficult day for us and this is not where we wanted to qualify. The grip was just not there and we just lacked some speed with the other weekends. Yet this weekend is far from over, we want to be close to the positions that are points.’
Fernando Alonso had to put up with his teammate. The two-time world champion has to make do with the thirteenth starting place for Sunday. ‘Unfortunately, today was not our day. I had a lot of last of traffic in Q2 and that cost us Q3. We just couldn’t show the car’s potential, but rare things can happen on a narrow track like Zandvoort.’
Aston Martin
For Aston Martin it was a qualifying session with two faces. Sebastian Vettel will of course not be happy with the nineteenth time on Saturday. “On my last lap in Q1, I’m drafting some sand into Turn 13. At that point I’m off the ideal racing line and I’m over my car. It’s a shame because up to that point my speed was just fine and that lap could have easily brought me into Q2. We’re going to see what we can do. Maybe we’ll come up with a lean strategy.’
There were many smiles on the other side of the garage. Lance Stroll was able to make it into Q3 but did not lap in the final session. origin, the Canadian can of course start from P10. “It’s a shame we had a hydraulic problem. We had the speed to start in the top eight. It was a lot of fun to drive this car. The team has done a great job, so it’s really nice to have them for their work.’
Williams
Alexander Albon again managed to make it to Q2 and the driver also did not expect to make it to Q3 for the second week in a row. “We just did well today because we know our limits. I’m happy with my round in Q1, because we already knew Q3 would be a difficult story.’ Nicholas Latifi starts the race from last place due to a problem with his car. “I got a message on my steering wheel that the car is getting power.”
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo failed to challenge during qualifying. Valtteri Bottas had already finished sixteenth after Q1. “The car, not necessarily bad, but we’re just missing the speed. We have all kinds of capabilities with the setup, but we weren’t fast enough.’ Zhou Guanyu managed to reach Q2, but the Chinese driver ultimately did not get further than fourteenth place. “As expected, it was again very exciting in midfield. I think we maximized everything.’
Hare
As with Aston Martin, the feeling in Haas garages is very different. The American renstal2 had Q with both cars, but Kevin Magnussen got stuck in P1. “Everything looked good in the morning and out of nowhere it was just gone. I really wonder why we didn’t have a grip. I only found two in my second run, others discovered eight tenths to find.’
Mick Schumacher’s garage can be satisfied with qualifying. The German managed to exceed the team’s expectations and make it to Q3. The Haas driver will start from eighth place on Sunday. “The lap I managed to do in Q2 was definitely good. We didn’t make much changes to the car, but we did manage to get little things going for passengers in the setup. This gives me some extra confidence and hopefully I’ll go faster too.’