As much as its name implies that teams down tools for some much needed respite over August, the ‘summer shutdown’ is actually a critical opportunity for teams to take a major step forward in the development race.
If you’re not showing up for the first race back with a raft of shiny new upgrades designed to wring at least a tenth or two out of your car, you can guarantee your nearest rivals will.
Red Bull have sat atop Formula 1’s perch throughout the ground effect era so far that was easy to assume that the world champions would turn up to Max Verstappen’s home grand prix and seize back their place at the front once more after several rounds of being bested by McLaren and Mercedes. Instead, the feedback from the championship leader after a tricky and windy opening day of practice at Zandvoort was that little progress had been made in their efforts to return to the front of the field.
“We’re a bit too slow”, was Verstappen’s assessment after setting the fifth-fastest time in the dry second practice session on Friday afternoon, while team mate Sergio Perez was well down the order in 12th.
But it was not just the RB20’s performance over a single lap that concerned the only Dutch driver in the field this weekend. The dry conditions of the second practice session provided drivers the opportunity to carry out multiple high-fuel runs on both medium and soft compounds later in the hours. And Red Bull were slower than both McLaren and Mercedes through their long runs on the medium rubber.
While the caveat, as always, remains that fuel loads remain unknown, signs point to McLaren and Mercedes – the two latest teams to have achieved grand prix victories – being in the strongest positions heading into the two most important days of the weekend. Even Belgian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton, who rarely seems to climb out of his car on a Friday in an optimistic mood, was refreshingly positive about his team’s prospects.
“I felt okay today,” Hamilton said after the session. “It’s not a bad start to the weekend.
“It’s a big, big difference compared to last year. The car is definitely feeling more alive. We’re right up there at the front.”
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His team mate George Russell, who set the pace on Friday with the best time on soft tyres despite a couple of trips through the gravel over the two sessions, was as happy with the…
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