The outcome of the Dutch qualifying confirmed a good overall result for Scuderia Ferrari. Having placed two cars in the third row is an outcome very close to the maximum possible result, a target revised after the unexpected elimination of Sergio Perez at the end of Q1.
There was a chance to take fourth place, but Pierre Gasly’s lap beat Charles Leclerc by 49 thousandths of a second. The third row, completed with Carlos Sainz, sixth, is still an important result arrived in a day that began in the box of the Maranello team amidst unexpected events and some doubts.
Carlos Sainz’s violent impact during the FP3 session complicated the work considerably, also taking into consideration the delay with which the Spaniard’s car was returned (one hour and forty minutes from the start of qualifying).
The Maranello technicians were called to a tour-de-force concluded at the limit of the time available in order to send Carlos Sainz on the track in the Q1 session: “The mechanics had to fight against time to fix and check everything” – Carlos admitted – “but the team really did an incredible job: it was impressive to see them working around the car!”
The second doubt for the Scuderia’s technicians was linked to the lower than expected performance that emerged in the FP3 session, which saw Charles Leclerc fail to go beyond the ninth position.
What made the difference, compared to the good results that emerged yesterday, was the sharp drop in temperature, but the sun arrived on Zandvoort before qualifying recreated a better condition for the SF21. A very welcome situation for Ferrari, and especially Carlos Sainz, who found his car (in perfect condition) to join the fray at the start of qualifying.
“After all that tension, once I was able to get out on the track, I concentrated on re-tuning my mind on qualifying and on regaining confidence with the car lap after lap – explained Carlos – I managed to recover well and in the end the the result was good in what was a difficult and very tight qualifying ”.
Considering the issues faced, Carlos Sainz’s sixth position impressed. The very small gap to Charles Leclerc begins to be the subject of discussion among some insiders, divided between those who argue that the Monegasque has not expressed himself as in his best days, and those who are convinced that Carlos Sainz’s potential has not nothing less than that of more noble names.
“It’s a shame we narrowly missed the fourth position – Charles added – but in the end a fifth and a sixth place on the grid are a good result for us. We were probably a little too aggressive in choosing the front wing adjustment during the last attempt, and so I lost the rear a bit in the central sector. For the race, tire degradation is something that is still not completely clear to us, also because we weren’t able to run many simulations during free practice. We will see how to manage it in the race tomorrow.”
Tomorrow’s race will start with less certainty than usual for the teams, as there is no historical data on this track and not having covered a large number of laps during free practice, fragmented by many red flags, but the teams do not seem to fear problems of atypical degradation of the tires like on other tracks.
The start will be a key moment, in which both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc will need to have many eyes to avoid contacts and unexpected events.
The opportunity to leave Zandvoort with a good total of points is concrete, as was the disappointment of McLaren at the end of qualifying, which ended with Daniel Ricciardo in tenth position and Lando Norris only thirteenth. An assist offered to the Maranello team (in view of the Constructors’ classification) which the Italian side should not waste on Sunday afternoon at the Zandvoort circuit.
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