Vettel’s bad luck swallows more than half of the training
It almost feels unreal, but it’s finally here; F1 in the Netherlands. The Dutch GP started at 11:30 am with the 1st free practice. The teams all took to the track as quickly as possible to collect as much data as possible and to train. All teams and drivers need time badly because the circuit (and especially the bends) is largely unknown to everyone. Max Verstappen seems to feel right at home on the circuit in the dunes. As we often say: the times of the training sessions don’t say much yet.
The first meters of the 1th free practice of the GP of the Netherlands
The first spin comes from Yuki Tsunoda, who is already backwards after two minutes. On cold tires it gives too much throttle and the rear overtakes the front, but luckily there is no damage. Shortly afterwards Ocon makes a brake mistake and here too everything remains intact. You can clearly see that the drivers are still looking for the best line, for example in Hugenholtz. In this small bend, for example, we see Gasly slipping out a bit. Vettel goes in within ten minutes with complaints about his engine.
Max Verstappen shoots straight to the top
Max Verstappen immediately knows how to find the pace and records the fastest time at the start of the training. Other drivers quickly overtake him, but Verstappen comes with an appropriate answer and dives under 1 minute and 13 seconds. In the end Norris drives 0.076 seconds off Verstappen’s time, but Max does not immediately get the chance to improve the time, because things go wrong with Vettel.
The red flag
Vettel returns to the track after a check from the pit crew, but stops him next to the track with 43 minutes to go. As he fiddles with a clumsy fire extinguisher, the red flags go up and everyone has to head back to the pits. The indicator on the car indicates that the car is not ‘electrically safe’ to touch. As a result, it takes a very long time before the car is recovered. Meanwhile, the clock continues to run and the teams miss their crucial track time. After 25 minutes, Vettel’s car is only on the back of the truck.
If Vettel’s engine is beyond salvage, then Aston Martin has a problem. If he can’t reuse one of his old bikes, he’ll have to work on his fourth bike and that means a grid penalty. News about the engine will follow after a thorough inspection. The fluids the engine spewed across the track are not a good omen. With just over six minutes left on the clock, the 1st free practice session of the Dutch GP can be resumed.
The last minutes of training
All teams come out on the soft tire. The F1 cars crawl out of the pit lane to keep some space with the predecessor. Despite the crowds, the drivers can set faster times. Leclerc is the first to improve Norris, but the Mercedi also set good times. Due to all the crowds, Norris is almost driven off the track by an Alpine. Bottas, Schumacher and Gasly are all looking for a quick lap in the final moments, and you can actually see them racing at the end of practice.
In the end Hamilton sets the fastest time with Verstappen 0.097 seconds behind him. After that, the Ferraris are in the top five with Bottas as last.
1st free practice of the GP of the Netherlands 2021
01. Hamilton
02. Verstappen
03. Sainz
04. Leclerc
05. Bottas
Dates and times of the GP of the Netherlands 2021
Friday September 3, 2021
2nd free practice: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Saturday September 4, 2021
3rd free practice: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Qualification: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Sunday September 5, 2021
Race: 3:00 PM
