Hear from Lewis, George and the Team after a solid...

Hear from Lewis, George and the Team after a solid first day on track in Zandvoort

The 2023 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort marked the return of Formula 1 racing following the summer break, proceeding under varied and challenging weather conditions. The first practice session (FP1) commenced amidst wet and windy atmospheres typical of the North Sea coast.

As the session continued, the track conditions improved, transitioning from full wet tires to intermediates, and ultimately to slicks as the drivers adapted to the drying track. Despite the tricky initial conditions, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell managed respectable finishes, ending the session in third and fifth places, respectively. However, their pace was hindered by traffic towards the end, limiting their potential for quicker lap times.

The second practice session (FP2) kicked off with entirely dry conditions, allowing the Mercedes team to start on Medium tires under sunny skies. Despite the favorable track conditions, strong gusts of wind persisted, which posed challenges for the drivers.

George Russell experienced difficulties, going off track during his first run in Turn 1 due to a strong tailwind. Just over 18 minutes into FP2, a red flag was caused by Nico Hülkenberg crashing his Haas at the same corner. Fortunately, the session resumed shortly after.

Throughout FP2, both drivers provided feedback indicating that their cars were performing well, with Hamilton reporting a generally good balance. Russell noted that a flat spot incurred during his run affected his ability to extract maximum performance from his car.

Following initial runs on Medium tires, the Mercedes duo shifted to Soft tires and subsequently focused on race preparations with long runs. Despite Russell’s flat spot issue, he concluded the session with the fastest lap of 1:10.702, while Hamilton finished just a fraction behind in third place.

The overall time margins were tight on the short Zandvoort track, with the top five drivers within three-tenths of a second and every driver from P1 to P14 within a second of each other, indicating a competitive field.

As the team analyzed the data collected from the day, attention shifted to the forecast for Saturday, which predicted less wind but anticipated rain.

George Russell expressed his enthusiasm about getting back to racing after the summer break, acknowledging the windy conditions as some of the most challenging he had experienced in recent years. He reported that the car felt strong and that the updates made to the vehicle were effective.

Russell anticipated tight competition at the front and was eager to tackle the coming sessions.

Lewis Hamilton echoed similar sentiments, stating that the start to the weekend had been encouraging. He felt the car was responsive and positioned well among the competition.

Hamilton mentioned that they understood their setup well, allowing for incremental adjustments rather than dramatic changes, which simplified the quest for performance improvement. He also noted that there was still time to find more speed, particularly as he didn’t maximize his lap on the Soft compound tire.

Looking ahead, the schedule for the remainder of the race weekend included third practice (FP3) at 11:30 AM local time, followed by qualifying at 3 PM, and the race itself on Sunday, also at 3 PM local time.

The team remained focused on utilizing data from the practice sessions to refine their strategies for the qualifying and race, fully aware of the unpredictable weather variants that could further influence conditions on the track.