Hamilton problems in Zandvoort: Vettel has to put out the fire on the Aston Martin


Hamilton problems in Zandvoort
Vettel has to put out fire on the Aston Martin

The return to the Netherlands is anything but smooth for Formula 1. Sebastian Vettel provides the first break in training, later Lewis Hamilton also stops on the track. Ferrari is experiencing a high at Verstappen’s home game, which will probably not last.

The sun was shining, the fans were singing in orange, but the Verstappen Festival had to wait. First, Sebastian Vettel worked on his smoking Aston Martin, threw the fire extinguisher away in exasperation and was an involuntary leading actor in Zandvoort at noon. In the afternoon, Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes rolled out with a rattle in front of the packed grandstands, making for the next break – and Max Verstappen simply didn’t get any space for a first heroic act.

“That’s crazy,” said the Red Bull star on the pit radio, “I can’t get a single lap together.” Numerous interruptions shaped the start in Zandvoort, Verstappen’s compatriots around the track had to entertain themselves for a long time: In the end, the local hero was only fifth, three and a half tenths were missing the fastest man of the day. Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari was at the top of the timesheet.

However, this was not yet particularly meaningful. The completely overhauled track is only 4.259 kilometers long, very narrow in most places, the traffic made it difficult to do an undisturbed fast lap anyway – the red flags did the rest. About 45 minutes of the 120-minute prelude were lost as a result, which could still be a problem. Because drivers and teams hardly know the route when they return to the Netherlands after 36 years.

Vettel is doing better in the afternoon

So Friday in Zandvoort did not give any real answers to the question of the balance of power between world champion Hamilton in the Mercedes and rival Verstappen in the Red Bull. Before the 13th race of the season on Sunday (3 p.m. / Sky and in the live ticker at ntv.de) leads Hamilton by just three World Cup points.

Verstappen now seems to have an advantage, because Hamilton missed significantly larger parts of the training. Already at the beginning of the second session he complained about a lack of performance and had to park the car, the training was over for him. “It’s not the end of the world,” said Hamilton, “but we’re a little behind.” With his time, Hamilton placed himself in the midfield, right next to Sebastian Vettel. Mick Schumacher in Haas came 17th in the daily bill.

Vettel experienced a decent second session in the Aston Martin, and will probably be aiming for the top 10 at the weekend. For him, however, the start at noon was a failure. 18 minutes had been completed when Vettel reported engine failure.

Smoke rose from the green bolide, the 34-year-old let his car roll and got a fire extinguisher from the marshals. “I tried to put out the fire,” said Vettel, “unfortunately it was the wrong fire extinguisher.” The foam did not get to the crucial points. Vettel’s team was able to install already used engine components for the second run, did not have to use any new ones and thus avoided a penalty for the German for the time being.

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