Sebastian Vettel had a disappointing Friday as the Dutch GP roared into action. The four time FIA Formula 1 World Champion could only finish fifteenth and fourteenth in the two sessions, which will be disappointing for the German driver, who finished eight at the Belgium GP. However, with a long way to go to the race still, Vettel will be hoping to go into Saturday with a positive mindset.
Vettel will be looking to make the most of the remaining races after announcing he would be retiring from the sport earlier this year. This year hasn’t reached his extremely high standards as Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team have struggled to get consistent point finishes.
Despite a difficult day, Vettel believes there is positives in the car, most significantly their long-run pace.
“It was a bit of a tricky day for us today. Free Practice 1 was pretty busy, and there was plenty of traffic, but I never really felt on top of the car in either session. Looking at the times, I think our long-run pace looks pretty good, but we still need to focus on our single-lap pace.
The German is hoping that tomorrow will be a more successful day and the team can put in a strong showing in what could be a crucial qualifying session at a difficult circuit to overtake.
I am not really happy with today’s result – I think there is more pace in the car that we can find – but hopefully we can take a step forward overnight and hit the ground running in Free Practice 3.”
Lance Stroll – “We had a strong day today”
On the other side of the garage, Lance Stroll continued his impressive run of form in practice sessions, finishing a respective twelfth in the first session, and an impressive sixth in the second and last session of the day. The Canadian driver will be hoping to add to his disappointing points tally of four and a strong qualifying session could be crucial in doing that.
Stroll will be hoping that the team can take this strong momentum into tomorrow and Sunday as Stroll looks to score some rare points and gain some confidence to end a hard season strong.
“We had a strong day today around a track I really like. This place is quite different to Spa – which is much faster – and we were strong there as well during Friday practice. It is a case of having to wait and see whether we can carry this momentum into qualifying tomorrow. If we can maintain our strong progress, then we should be in a good position to fight for points in the race.”
