In the first race back after the summer break, the Dutch fans at Zandvoort were treated to a Max Verstappen masterclass in a thrilling qualifying session. Let’s look deeper into the data to see how it all unfolded
##Verstappen (VER) vs Norris (NOR)
Through the first runs of Q3, on a drying track, the McLarens looked very strong and locked out the front row. Verstappen, however, was able to bring out the best of himself and his Red Bull to demote Norris to 2nd and take his 3rd consecutive pole at Zandvoort. In the first sector, Norris and the McLaren looked very handy, particularly at the exit of T1 and in the banked T4. After that however, it was a classic episode of the Red Bull-medium-speed-dominance show. Looking at the throttle trace, we can see that Verstappen was very confident on the throttle past T7. He never looked back beyond this point and finished the lap nearly 0.7s up on Norris.
##Albon (ALB) vs Alonso (ALO)
A fantastic qualifying for Williams culminated in a season high P4 for Albon. This was a fun but unexpected battle between two resurgent teams. Looking at the data we can see where the strengths of each driver lay. The Williams was better in the medium-speed corners and the Aston was better in the high-speed corners. Another interesting observation is that the Williams was better at handling variable radius corners than the Aston.
About Siddharth Anish
Mechanical Engineering student with experience in Aerodynamics and Vehicle Dynamics. My first words were Schumacher.