The holidays are over. Formula 1 is back in action this Friday at the Zandvoort circuit, hosting the Dutch Grand Prix, the first of ten races to complete the 2023 calendar. The extraordinary leader of the World Cup is looking for local hero Max Verstappen. he will be showing off in front of his fans this weekend and if he gets his ninth The consecutive win will equal the record held by Sebastian Vettel. For now, the Red Bull driver dominated the first lap (11.1852) of free practice in favorable conditions based on the rain forecasts for Saturday and Sunday.
Fernando Alonso was slow to hit the track like Lance Stroll. Aston Martin, who came to the Dutch circuit with important technical innovations that were not unique to the track, such as new floor, new sides and grilles, new diffuser, started with a technical knowledge problem in telemetry, which caused confusion. in the box at the beginning of the session. Stroll, who is also recovering from a bacterial infection, is almost unable to drive due to a malfunction in his car’s power unit. Alonso, on the other hand, managed to finish his first contact with the Zandvoort asphalt in second place, two tenths behind Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz did not attend these first free practice sessions as he gave his car to Ferrari Academy driver Robert Shwartzman, thus complying with the mandatory F1 rule that all teams must seat a youth academy youth player on a racetrack. at least one free session per season. The Madrid man is more penalizing than teammate Leclerc, who will have to do so on a less complex circuit in the final round in Abu Dhabi.
The first red flag of the weekend was caused by Nico Hülkenberg, who was confirmed by Haas for next season along with current teammate, Denmark’s Kevin Magnussen, on Thursday. HE German pilot attacked the guards With 18 minutes to go, his car got stuck in the gravel, forcing the session to stop for a few minutes.
GP Netherlands. Free Exercise 1:
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1’11″852
2. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) at 0″278
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) at 0″373
4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) at 0″471
5. Alex Albon (Williams) at 0″595
6. Lando Norris (McLaren) in 0″608
7. Logan Sargeant (Williams) at 0″765
8. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) on 0″806
9. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) at 0″897
10. Estebam Ocon (Alp) at 0″950
11. George Russell (Mercedes), 0″961
12. Pierre Gasly (Alp), in 1″043
13. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri) at 1″138
14. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) at 1″470
15. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), 1″596
16. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 01″667
17. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), 1″974
18. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), at 2″171
19. Robert Shwartzman (Ferrari), at 2″951