© Getty ImagesFree Practice Update - Dutch Grand Prix 2021Max gets his home race debut up and running in Zandvoort
WelcometoZandvoort!ItfeelssogoodtosaythataftersuchalongwaitandtheBullshavearrivedintheNetherlandsreadytogettheDutchGrandPrixweekendunderway.
This is the first time the Team has taken part in the Dutch Grand Prix, with the last edition of the race dating back to 1985. It will also be the first home Grand Prix of Max’s career! It’s a new track on the calendar for this year and none of the current driver line up have raced a Formula One car around this short, twisty track.
For the first Dutch Grand Prix in 36 years the drivers will have to navigate 72 laps of the 14-cornered, 4.259km circuit giving a total race distance off 306.648km. And there is no current lap record due to the changes to the track since the last outing.
Max and Sergio got their first taste of the Zandvoort track in Friday morning’s Free Practice One. The session lost almost 40 minutes of track time due to Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin suffering an engine issue and stopping on track, and due to the car still being electrically live it took the majority of the session to get it off track.
In the very short session Max was able to lay down 17 laps, finishing in P2 with a time of 1:11.597. Checo completed 17 laps with a best time of 1:13.328, placing him P16 on the timesheet.
In the last session of Friday, Free Practice Two, there were two more red flags waved. One caused by Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes stopping on track due to a reported loss of power and the second by Haas’ Nikita Mazepin who spun off into the gravel.
However, the Bulls were still able to get plenty of track time during the hour. Max finished the session P5 with a time of 1:11.264 after completing 28 laps. Checo finished in P12 with a time of 1:11.946 after 27 laps.
The final Free Practice session, which took place on Saturday morning before Qualifying, was once again shortened due to a red flag. This time it was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who spun his car into the barriers at turn three, losing 10 minutes of the session.
That loss of time didn’t bother Max though, who finished top of the Free Practice Three timesheet after completing 13 laps with a 1:09.623, 0.556s ahead of Valtteri Bottas in P2. Checo finished P4 with a time of 1:10.526, 0.903s behind his teammate after completing 13 laps.
It’s been a good day and it was really enjoyable to see everyone in orange having fun in the grandstands
“It’s been a good day and it was really enjoyable to see everyone in orange having fun in the grandstands. Of course the track is also very fun to drive with a lot of fast corners so it was good to finally get out there. From our side I don’t think the lap times are very representative today as I did my fastest lap on a used set of tyres. I was improving on another push lap and then Mazepin had a spin otherwise I think we would be higher up but it’s only Friday and we’re still looking at all the details of where we can do better and improve. The long runs looked competitive which is positive but we also know that the start position is very important here so we’ll see what we can do to get more pace out of the car overnight.”
It was awesome to get out there and drive this old school circuit. It’s very different to the other tracks we go to
“It was awesome to get out there and drive this old school circuit. It’s very different to the other tracks we go to and with so many consecutive right-hand corners it’s a pretty unique and physical challenge. I’ve never driven here before so it’s completely new and with so many red flags it was difficult to get into a rhythm. You really need the confidence going into the session to trust the car in order to push it and I wasn’t quite there or fully comfortable today so there are a couple of things on my side that we need to look at and make some decisions on in order to get the most out of the package. It’s amazing to see so many fans enjoying themselves and cheering in the grandstands so I expect the energy around the track to only get better and better over the weekend.”
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | … | 16 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Max Verstappen | Carlos Sainz | Charles Leclerc | Valtteri Bottas | Fernando Alonso | Esteban Ocon | Antonio Giovinazzi | Lance Stroll | Pierre Gasly | … | Sergio Pérez |
| Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | Ferrari | Ferrari | Mercedes | Alpine | Alpine | Alfa Romeo Racing | Aston Martin | AlphaTauri | … | Red Bull Racing Honda |
| 1.11.500 | 1.11.597 | 1.11.601 | 1.11.623 | 1.11.738 | 1.12.158 | 1.12.231 | 1.12.359 | 1.12.431 | 1.12.515 | … | 1.13.328 |
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | … | 12 |
| Charles Leclerc | Carlos Sainz | Esteban Ocon | Valtteri Bottas | Max Verstappen | Fernando Alonso | Pierre Gasly | Lando Norris | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sebastian Vettel | … | Sergio Pérez |
| Ferrari | Ferrari | Alpine | Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | Alpine | AlphaTauri | McLaren | Alfa Romeo Racing | Aston Martin | … | Red Bull Racing Honda |
| 1.10.902 | 1.11.056 | 1.11.074 | 1.11.132 | 1.11.264 | 1.11.280 | 1.11.462 | 1.11.488 | 1.11.678 | 1.11.713 | … | 1.11.946 |
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Max Verstappen | Valtteri Bottas | Lewis Hamilton | Sergio Pérez | Fernando Alonso | Lando Norris | Lance Stroll | Sebastian Vettel | Charles Leclerc | Pierre Gasly |
| Red Bull Racing Honda | Mercedes | Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | Alpine | McLaren | Aston Martin | Aston Martin | Ferrari | AlphaTauri |
| 1.09.623 | 1.10.179 | 1.10.417 | 1.10.526 | 1.10.670 | 1.10.781 | 1.10.842 | 1.10.872 | 1.10.896 | 1.11.005 |
