23/08/2024
NEWS STORY
Round 15 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship began with Friday practice at Circuit Zandvoort in The Netherlands as teams prepared for Sunday's 72-lap Dutch Grand Prix.
FP1 proved to be a mixed bag weather-wise as the seaside circuit threw a bit of everything at the field. With the 60-minute session starting in blustery wind and rain, and a damp circuit requiring wet-weather tires, opening practice ultimately ended under brilliant sunshine with slicks bolted on by the checkered flag.
Hulkenberg and Magnussen sampled the Pirelli Cinturato Blue wet weather and Green intermediate tires respectively on their initial stints in what could only be described as challenging track conditions. The passage of time eventually delivered clear blue skies and sunshine above with both drivers dry running on the P Zero Red soft rubber. Hulkenberg set his fastest lap at the close of play, the German clocking a 1:13.563 for P8. Magnussen was directly behind his teammate on the timesheet, the Dane banking a 1:13.597 for P9.
The blustery conditions continued into FP2 later in the day - but it remained bright and dry in contrast to the start of the day. Magnussen led the way for the team in the second session setting a fastest time of 1:11.430 on a set of soft tires to claim P8 at the close of play. Magnussen ran the White hard compound to start his FP2 run-plan before finishing up with a high-fuel distance run on his used softs.
Hulkenberg's track time was cut short prematurely when his VF-24 locked up under-braking into Turn 1 pitching him through the gravel trap and into the tire barrier just before the 20-minute mark. The incident prompted the only red flag stop of the session. Hulkenberg was unscathed but done for the day after trialing the medium tire for a handful of laps with a best time of 1:13.296 (P20).
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team ran a total of 76 laps on Friday across FP1 and FP2 - Magnussen (48), Hulkenberg (28).
Nico Hulkenberg: "It was a very unexpected, very sudden rear lock event that I didn't foresee and didn't expect in the way that it happened. It was definitely a wind gust that caught me out; I had a little more brake pressure than before but I didn't brake later. It was on the edge, and two or three more circumstances tipped it over the edge and made it look quite dramatic. Luckily, it wasn't a big impact and there was next to no damage, but obviously the lost time is the prize that we pay. The midfield - or second pack where we are - looked close together and compact, so we're definitely in the mix but I've made it harder for myself with less preparation time."
Kevin Magnussen: "The conditions aren't necessarily representative as FP1 was wet, but we got a little bit of running in the dry, although it was kind of still damp. FP2 was good; I had good pace and a good feeling in the car so that's positive. These days it's so close that if someone ran five or 10 kilos less or more fuel, it changes the picture, so I'm always cautious. I think compared to last year, this car is quite different in certain areas, and I definitely feel an improvement. There are still issues we want to improve but that's normal."
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "The day was a mixture. FP1's conditions were tricky, but I think we managed the session well; that level of wind gust is extreme. When we managed to run on inters and slicks, the car balance was a bit off, but it was a decent start. It was dry for FP2 but Nico's session was cut short unfortunately because he locked up, so we're looking into that. Looking into what Kevin has done - both his quali sim and long run - he was pretty decent. We've got fine-tuning to do tonight to improve a bit more but from Kevin's side we got decent data and it was a good Friday."
Check out our Friday gallery from Zandvoort here.