Mercedes
Antonelli missed plenty of running in the first session after locking up, running through the gravel and beaching his car. It was unfortunate for the youngster and set him back given he only managed to complete six laps – and none on the softs. Conditions were tricky, as shown by Russell also having a moment and winding up in the gravel, although he managed to keep enough momentum to make it to the escape road. Roll on FP2, and Antonelli completed the whole session on the softs to make up for that time lost, but he had one heart in mouth moment when he dipped a wheel in the gravel. Russell had an even closer call, nearly colliding with Piastri in the pit lane – something the stewards had a look at after the session.
George Russell – FP1: 1:11.386, P7; FP2: 1:10.274, P4
“It’s good to be back racing after a few weeks off. It was a positive day for us, and I felt good out there on track. The conditions were tricky for everyone, with a lot of wind strength and gusts, and we saw several drivers caught out by that. Here in Zandvoort, there a lot of corners that are exposed to the wind, and that makes it challenging for us as drivers. That will likely continue over the rest of the weekend.
“We were not quite as close to the front of the field as we would have liked today in terms of our single lap pace. We will look to improve that overnight but encouragingly, our race pace on the long run looked good. If that carries into the weekend, then that bodes well for us. That said, I am sure we will see the field close up tomorrow.”
Kimi Antonelli – FP1: 1:14.275, P20; FP2: 1:11.185, P12
“I was obviously disappointed to start the weekend with my running cut short in FP1. I was pushing hard to generate tyre temperature but locked up and got beached at Turn 9. That ended my session prematurely and was not ideal as it costed me a good amount of track time and learning.
“Thankfully, FP2 was a better session. We focused on single lap work on the Soft tyre and I was able to build my knowledge and confidence. It was a decent hour overall but there were still a few mistakes which I need to iron out. We will work hard overnight to make improvements. We know what we need to look at and I know what I need to focus on. We will work diligently and thoroughly, and come back ready for FP3 and Qualifying tomorrow.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“All teams had to work around an ever-changing weather forecast today and that seemed to cause a bit more variety in programmes that we would normally expect on Friday. As a result, it’s a bit more difficult than normal to work out where we stand. George didn’t have a great time on low fuel in the first session but by the afternoon he was in a much better place, although it’s no surprise that McLaren remain the benchmark.
“The long runs by George have looked pretty good across the day. We will need a bit more pace if we want to fight for the top step but it’s a solid start. Kimi had a less straightforward time. He locked into Turn 9 on his first run and got beached in the gravel, thus ending his first session. In the second session he was catching up on lost track time but with several red flags and a virtual safety car, he didn’t get a clean run at the new soft tyres. With such a short lap, we can expect Qualifying to be tight tomorrow which inevitably makes life difficult but at this stage, there’s no reason to think that we can’t get into a position to be fighting for a podium spot come Sunday.”