Scheduling the on track action during a Formula One weekend is no simple matter. Each F1 outing is almost unique given the varying type of support racing thats included and then there’s the six Sprint events to boot.

Time has to be allowed between each track session for potential repairs to the circuit and in connotative sessions there’s always the risk of a red flag.

This weekend in Zandvoort, the supporting series schedule is fairly light as only the F1 Academy female drivers together with the Porsche super cup are making an appearance. This means the time between each session is longer here than at F1 events where F2, F3 and another series is competing.

 

 

 

Sargeant HUGE crash brings lengthy red flag

Weather has been at the front of everyone’s attention this weekend in the Netherlands with practice one almost wiped out as evidenced by Nico Hulkenberg completing the most laps, but just 18 of them.

Practice two was mostly dry and the drivers almost doubled the number of laps they completed in the earlier session. With gusting winds sweeping across the Zandvoort sandiness all weekend practice three was eagerly anticipated by the drivers in their final push to setup the car and finalise their tyre degradation analysis.

Yet an early incident for Nico Hulkenberg when his car again locked the rear wheels under braking created the first caution of the session. Within minutes, Logan Sargeant made a serious driver error accelerating his Williams flat out while he had wheels on the grass.

The car snapped out of control at around 110 miles an hour, slamming into the barrier which destroyed the chassis and saw loose wheels rolling down the hill. The barriers to had suffered a significant impact and required repairing before the session could re-commence.

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Race for one last practice lap

With the clock running down towards the end of the session it became apparent there would be little time for the drivers to get any meaningful running in. Race control indicated the session would resume with the clock showing five minutes remaining. 

This was quickly altered to just two minutes, which was Race Control in effect giving the drivers the opportunity to make practice starts. Fernando Alonso remained in the garage while the rest of the field battled to be first on track when the pit lane exit light went from red to green.

Max Verstappen overtook Oscar Piastri going into the pit lane exit, but he failed to keep inside the white line when he attempted to pass the next car ahead. This will inevitably end with a fine for the world champion after the session, though in qualifying or the Grand Prix the matter will be treated much more seriously.

From the end of practice three there is a scheduled 2 hours and thirty minutes break with no other on track action. The obvious question arising from the chaos in Zandvoort would be for Race Control to extend the practice session.

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Laps completed in three sessions minimal

A regulation which states ‘if more than 30 minutes of a practice session is lost to a red flag, then depending on the days schedule, race control can take the decision to extend the session by half the number of minutes lost.

Theoretically the extension could never pre more than 30 minutes and only then were the incident causing the red flag happen within the first minute of practice. Today it would have seen 20 minutes tackled on to the end of FP3.

Of course there is an FIA mandated minimum time allowed between final practice and qualifying, which allows the teams to repair any damaged cars from the first session and the circuit engineers space to make any repairs necessary. Yet it can be argued that having sufficient practice time for the F1 drivers is safety consideration particularly on a track like Zandvoort.

With only Oscar Piastri making his number of laps in FP3 into double digits, the majority of the drivers have completed just around 50 laps across all three practice sessions this weekend. The average number of laps last year which included one wet session was around 80 laps, of course a significant deficit.

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Final session times make interesting reading

Formula One protects the integrity of the qualifying sessions and those when the drivers are racing. The red flag can run for over two hours before these actual track time is affected in these sessions.

Further, the F1 fans this weekend have been deprived of a significant amount of on track action and it is them after all who pay the billions each year the sport requires to continue.

The final classification for the season leads to interesting reading with Pierre Gasly topping the session with only four of the top ten in the drivers’ championship making it onto the first page the time sheets.

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Perez set to struggle in Zandvoort

Yuki Tsuoda and Sergio Perez only completed installation laps and set no time before the red flagged were too far back in to the pit lane queue to get out for the last two minutes to make the chequered flag and get in one flying lap.

Max Verstappen has now been given a warning for breaching the pit lane dividing line but if he’s hoping for some support from his team mate this weekend, its one that is looking forlorn.

In Practice two which should be representative in terms of conditions for the qualifying session to come, Sergio was 0.6 seconds slower than his team mate, which would see Checo struggle to make the top ten in this afternoons session.

Christian Horner admitted yesterday that Zandvoort was not one of Perez’s ‘better tracks’, so theres little evidence he will improve significantly leaving Verstappen to fight the Red Bull cause at the front.

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Horner breaks silence over accusations against him

Christian Horner began the 2024 Formula One season in a blaze of publicity. He was accused of “inappropriate behaviour” by a Red Bull Racing employee but what should have been an internal matter for the organisation became a very public affair for the Red Bull boss.

Rumours of a coupe detente to remove Horner were fuelled when an anonymous email leaked the alleged evidence to around 150 senior members of the paddock. The finger of suspicion fell on Dr. Helmut Marko who did little to defuse the situation when he suggested he may be suspended for the Australian Grand Prix.

The spectre of Red Bull without Dr. Marko was presented to world champion Max Verstappen who then hinted he could leave the team were his Austrian mentor forced out… READ MORE