Mixed emotions in the first qualifying session after the summer break: George in P4, Lewis P12.
Formula 1 returned from its summer break to changeable weather conditions at Zandvoort this weekend.
George was undeterred by this and qualified in P4 for the Dutch Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Lewis struggled for grip and failed to make it into Q3 in P12.
The weather conditions at the start of qualifying were better than in the morning in FP3. The sun was out and the track was completely dry. However, according to the weather forecast, there was still a risk of rain during the qualifying session.
With so much rain so far this weekend, there was no shortage of Soft tyres for the drivers in the three qualifying sessions.
This meant that George had two sets of fresh Soft tyres available for Q3. He struggled with slow speed understeer on his first run, but still managed P4.
George was the last car out for the final attempt in Q3, where he was able to improve his time once again to reclaim P4 from Perez. This means he will start the race from the second row of the grid.
Tricky Conditions in Qualifying
Lewis set the fastest time on his first Soft run in Q1, while George struggled with understeer and a slipping car in the slow corners. He was P10 after the first run.
In the final minutes, our duo went out again, Lewis on the used Soft tyres from the first run, George on a new set of Soft tyres, with which he set a new fastest time. In the end, George and Lewis finished Q1 in 2nd and 5th place respectively, safely through to Q2.
At the start of Q2, the skies over the track became cloudier, but there was still no rain. George and Lewis completed their first runs on new Soft tyres: P3 for George, P5 for Lewis.
While George waited in the pits, Lewis completed another run on new Soft tyres and although he improved, he was unable to make it into Q3 in P12.
Lewis was slower in the first and third sectors than on his first run and it looked like he was struggling with rear grip.
Wind, Rain and Incidents Cost Valuable Practice Time
After two days of changeable weather, the Grand Prix starts on Sunday at 15:00 local time (14:00 BST) with relatively little knowledge from the free practice sessions.
On Friday, drivers and teams were able to gain some experience on a dry track. FP1 was affected by strong winds and rain, but FP2 was dry.
FP3 on Saturday morning was wet again. However, a crash involving Logan Sargeant, who hit the barriers after 20 minutes, had a more significant impact.
The Williams driver was uninjured, but the damage to the barrier required lengthy repairs and the session was restarted with just two minutes to go.
This left the drivers and the team with very little time to set up the car for the different conditions and prepare for the race.
Everything you need to know about the Circuit Zandvoort before the race can be found in our Grand Prix Guide.
Source : Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team