The second half of the 2024 racing season gets underway at the Zandvoort circuit on the opening day of free practice. Since the race's return to the schedule, Max Verstappen, a Dutch driver, has consistently finished first at his home race. There are two banked parts in the circuit, and the grades can vary by up to 35%.
After the summer break, Formula One returns to the track with the Dutch Grand Prix, which will be held in Zandvoort, Netherlands, home of Max Verstappen.This race weekend kicks off a doubleheader; the Italian raceway of Monza comes up the following week.Zandvoort hosted a grand prix for the first time in 1952. It was removed from the schedule in 1985 and returned in 2021.
Verstappen has won three times to date, making him the lone winner of the Dutch Grand Prix. If he wins this weekend, he would tie Jim Clark, who has won the most races at Zandvoort with four. However, McLaren and Mercedes will be keen to prevent him from making history.
A few possible showers are expected on Friday and Saturday, and the weather is expected to be mostly settled throughout the weekend with highs of 22 degrees Celsius.To remind you, George Russell lost the last time out in the Belgian Grand Prix because his car was underweight, and teammate Lewis Hamilton took the lead.
Carlos Sainz signed a deal with Williams for 2025 and beyond at the beginning of the summer break, and Red Bull reiterated their support for Sergio Pérez, who has struggled in recent races.Helmut Marko, meanwhile, claims Red Bull has persisted with Pérez because the team believes a change in form is imminent and that the car has grown too challenging for him to drive.Robert Shwartzman, a reserve driver for Ferrari, will compete in Formula One (FP1) for the Stake team, replacing Valtteri Bottas.
The banking of Turn 3, which bears the name of the late great track designer John Hugenholtz, starts at 4.5° and varies in accordance with the Fibonacci sequence. Max Verstappen won nine races in a row last season; the Italian Grand Prix saw him break that record. Red Bull was dominating technically, and it was only a matter of time until the Dutch driver claimed his third world championship. But after a year, the track's power dynamics had entirely shifted.
McLaren appears to have the best car on the field, but they haven't been able to reach their full potential. While the Red Bull Ring victory was the result of unavoidable circumstances, Lewis Hamilton's subsequent victories at his home race and in Belgium showed that Mercedes can be a dangerous rival on a regular basis. In contrast, the Silver Arrows have won three of the last four races. Because the SF-24's performance was not improved by the developments, Scuderia Ferrari came back from the break behind the leading teams this year.
One of the main things that the Maranello experts are working on to prevent squandering the money allotted for the update that made its debut in Barcelona is the irksome aerodynamic porpoising that reappeared after the new floor was installed in the vehicle. A change to paragraph 11.1.2 (Brake circuits and pressure distribution) will take effect with this Grand Prix, making it illegal to utilize any equipment that aims to consistently produce asymmetric torque on the same axle of the vehicle. It will therefore be interesting to observe whether there are any variations in performance.
Situated a short distance from Amsterdam, close to the town of the same name in the Netherlands, Zandvoort is one of the most iconic Formula One locations. When it was first opened in 1948, the fast permanent circuit and public highways from the beach town were combined. The Dutch Grand Prix takes place over a total of 306.587 kilometers on a contemporary 4.259-meter circuit with 72 laps. Although the layout has been renovated, it is still a "old style" circuit where a flawless lap demands bravery and millimeter accuracy. In the race, overtaking is quite challenging.
