Lewis Hamilton is still the victim of ‘a small adjustment’ that Ferrari made after the only free practice at Zandvoort. The Brit was notably fast in FP1, but in the sprint qualifying and subsequent sprint race he was not very competitive. Hamilton started Saturday from P7, but did not manage to gain any positions during the Saturday event. Teammate Charles Leclerc moved up from P3 to P2.
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Hamilton had left a strong impression during the only free practice of the weekend. However, in the sprint qualifying he dropped back to seventh place, after which he could not make a stand during the sprint race against, among others, Max Verstappen, who started ahead of him. “The car felt pretty good in FP1, but then we made a small adjustment that really sent the car in a different direction in the sprint qualifying,” the Ferrari driver responded disappointedly.
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“Unfortunately, we then carried that into the race.” That is why Hamilton hopes to bring the setup closer to the free practice situation again for Saturday afternoon’s qualifying. “I hope that helps,” he said hesitantly. Charles Leclerc, who was the only driver in the top 10 to start on soft tires, did better. He was very quick on the red boots and moved up from P3 to P2.
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