With the Dutch Grand Prix returning for its second season back on the FIA Formula 1 World Championship calendar, Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen will be driving the track for the first time in an F1 car this weekend. The Danish driver said that he has previous experience at the track, however, having driven there in his junior career.
“I drove around Zandvoort in Formula 3 and also before that in Formula Renault 2.0 and I’ve always loved the track. It’s changed a bit since I last drove there but from what I saw on TV, it still has the same sort of character and is still as exciting.”
Magnussen is looking forward to racing around the historic track, and when asked how VF-22 is expected to perform at the high-downforce, high-speed venue, he said that he isn’t quite sure whether or not it will suit the car.
“Specifically for the VF-22, I don’t really know, but driving a Formula 1 car around there is going to be awesome. It’s one of those places from back in the seventies and eighties so you really will get a bit of nostalgia driving around there in a Formula 1 car. It’s going to be significant so I’m excited and looking forward to it.
Zandvoort is known for its banked corners, an element Magnussen is excited about, considering how these turns can impact on the racing there.
“I’m a fan of banked corners. It means you can use different lines much better so you can get out of the wake of the car in front and still go quick through corners and it’s better for close racing and overtaking. With these new cars, I think Zandvoort is going to be one of the tracks where it’s going to become easier to overtake, so we’ll see more like we did in Hungary.”
Magnussen said that the triple-header will allow the team to continue to learn about and optimize the upgrade they brought to the car shortly before the summer shutdown.
“There was a shutdown of two weeks where no one has been able to work but we should hopefully still be able to take a step in terms of learning, going into the weekend. That’s going to of course continue for the rest of the year like it did with the car we started with – we kept getting more out of it, which was good to see – so I hope we can have the same process with this upgrade and we keep getting more lap time out of it.
On track, Magnussen said that he noticed a positive difference in the way the car felt, particularly in high speed corners since the upgrade. He said that development is continuing, and that he is curious to see how the car continues to perform at higher speed tracks.
“From a driving perspective, it was pretty transparent. The car felt a little bit different in high-speed corners, but in a good way, so I’m happy with that. I hope that’s going to continue and I expect it to. We still have to keep working on some things, you always have to keep working on everything but it’s going to be interesting to see on tracks that are more high-speed how that’s going to impact the performance.”
“One thing that is for sure is it’s going to be a lot more difficult compared to last year” – Mick Schumacher
Team-mate Mick Schumacher recounted his experience at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix, an event he said that he enjoyed for its atmosphere and unique location, and discussed the challenges that the track will provide this year.
“It was very banked, very different to years before when I’ve driven there. I enjoy going to Zandvoort, it’s a fun track because people are in a good mood and you have the sea which is close so it’s nice to go. I’m excited to go back.”
In line with Magnussen, Schumacher said that he does not know how the car will perform at Zandvoort, but is confident that the track will be “a lot more difficult” with the new era of cars.
“It’s hard to say whether it’s going to suit our car or not, I would hope so. One thing that is for sure is it’s going to be a lot more difficult compared to last year. We have cars which are a lot more mechanical, and at tracks like Baku and others they’re a bit harder than we’d like it to be, and I guess Zandvoort is going to be one of those tracks as well.
“We have banked corners where cars are getting quite low, and we saw this year that once we get low, things turn out to be very bumpy.”
Schumacher detailed the impact of the banked corners on the physicality of the drivers, and the battling opportunities that these turns create on race day.
“Banked corners essentially allow us to go faster through the corner. On the physical side, it only means more strain on the neck, but Zandvoort has always been a track that has been tough on the neck. There are a lot of laps, a lot of quick corners, and it’s high downforce as well so it’s definitely going to be interesting.
“It also means there’s going to be opportunities if you’re fit enough to withstand that, it gives you the chance to perhaps profit from mistakes happening from other drivers. At a track like that, it usually ends up getting quite close to the wall or through the gravel – it could give one or the other the position.”
With the triple-header providing little time to rest between Grands Prix, Schumacher said that the fast pace means that there isn’t much time to review data, though set-up changes will be possible as the team continues to optimize the car after their hefty upgrade package.
“I’m sure we can do some changes on the set-up side and understand the package better for sure, and hopefully the package brings us what we hope and brings us closer to the others. It would be nice to have a break, so you have more time to go through the data, as when you have a triple-header everybody is very electrified trying to get everything ready for the triple-header.”
