The 2024 Netherlands Grand Prix Thread

[cmlean]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 15th round of the 2024 season taking place in the Netherlands between August 23rd-25th.

The event timetable for the Dutch Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 12:30 local time - 10:30 GMT
2nd Practice 16:00 local time - 14:00 GMT

Saturday
Practice 11:30 local time - 09:30 GMT
Qualifying 15:00 local time - 13:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 15:00 local time - 13:00 GMT

[cmlean]

FP1 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:12.322	Lando Norris	  McLaren
2	1:12.523	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
3	1:13.006	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
4	1:13.074	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
5	1:13.142	George Russell	  Mercedes
6	1:13.159	Alexander Albon	  Williams
7	1:13.230	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
8	1:13.563	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
9	1:13.597	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
10	1:13.965	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
11	1:14.151	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
12	1:14.279	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
13	1:14.306	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
14	1:14.418	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
15	1:14.467	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
16	1:14.658	Robert Shwartzman Sauber
17	1:15.605	Logan Sargeant	  Williams
18	1:15.796	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
19	1:16.231	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
20	1:22.036	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine

[cmlean]

The summer break is over and the teams were greeted with light rain and blustery conditions. It took a while but, as the drivers ventured out onto the track, the rain progressively eased.
In the final 7 minutes, times tumbled as the track continued to dry. Max Verstappen looked to have done enough until Lando Norris crossed the line moments after the world champion to set the fasted time of the session.

[cmlean]

FP2

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:10.702	George Russell	  Mercedes
2	1:10.763	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
3	1:10.813	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
4	1:10.961	Lando Norris	  McLaren
5	1:10.986	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
6	1:11.357	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
7	1:11.374	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
8	1:11.430	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
9	1:11.443	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
10	1:11.550	Alexander Albon	  Williams
11	1:11.576	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
12	1:11.581	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
13	1:11.630	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
14	1:11.644	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
15	1:11.818	Logan Sargeant	  Williams
16	1:11.934	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
17	1:12.061	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
18	1:12.206	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
19	1:13.108	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
20	1:13.296	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas

[cmlean]

The rain stayed away and the teams enjoyed a dry track. The only hindrance was the wind which had gusts up to 80km/h. Multiple drivers had lockups entering turns, the most significant being Nico Hulkenberg who locked his rear tyres entering turn 1 and ended in the barriers. With the barriers protected by multiple rows of tyres and the impact relatively soft, I would think that an inspection will show that any damage will be cosmetic.
Forecast for the remainder of the weekend is wet but we will see if the weather clears to give the teams more dry running.

[cmlean]

FP3 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:20.311	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
2	1:20.450	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
3	1:21.155	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
4	1:21.387	Lando Norris	  McLaren
5	1:21.461	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
6	1:21.643	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
7	1:21.850	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
8	1:21.941	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
9	1:22.354	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
10	1:22.589	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
11	1:23.240	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
12	1:23.287	Logan Sargeant	  Williams
13	1:23.958	George Russell	  Mercedes
14	1:24.007	Alexander Albon	  Williams
15	1:24.098	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
16	1:24.158	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
17	1:24.360	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
18	1:25.433	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
19	No Time		Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
20	No Time		Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing

[cmlean]

The session started under wet conditions and a few ventured out.
About 16 minutes into the session, Logan Sargeant dropped a wheel on the grass exiting turn 3. The car skewed to the left and went hard into the barriers entering turn 4. Red flags were thrown and the barrier had to be repaired. The session resumed with 2 minutes remaining leading to a mad scramble to get a fast lap in. I seriously doubt that Logan Sargeant's Williams will be repaired before qualifying.

[cmlean]

Qualifying

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:09.673	Lando Norris	  McLaren
2	1:10.029	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
3	1:10.172	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
4	1:10.244	George Russell	  Mercedes
5	1:10.416	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
6	1:10.582	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
7	1:10.633	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
8	1:10.857	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
9	1:10.977	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
_________________________________________________
10	1:10.914	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
11	1:10.948	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
12	1:10.955	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
13	1:11.215	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
14	1:11.295	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
_________________________________________________
15	1:11.943	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
16	1:11.995	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
17	1:12.168	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
18	1:13.261	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
DSQ			Alexander Albon	  Williams

[cmlean]

The damage to Logan Sargeant's Williams was substantial the short time between FP3 and Qualifying to repair the car was insufficient to complete the task. What was already a difficult day for Williams became worse at the conclusion of Qualifying when the scrutineers deemed that the floor of Alex Albon's car didn't meet regulations. This will now be another difficult race to score points after Albon's exceptional efforts in dragging his Williams into position 8 at the conclusion of Q3.

[cmlean]

Race

Code: Select all

Pos	Driver		  Team
1	Lando Norris	  McLaren
2	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
3	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
4	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
5	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
6	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
7	George Russell	  Mercedes
8	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
9	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
10	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
11	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
12	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
13	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
14	Alexander Albon	  Williams
15	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
16	Logan Sargeant	  Williams
17	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
18	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
19	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
20	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber