Verstappen topped the time sheets at the final practice of the weekend. The Dutch fans were elated to finally see their favourite home driver on top after a Mercedes in FP1 and a Ferrari in FP2.
A new face, in the form of Robert Kubica, was seen on the track in an Alfa Romeo after the announcement of Kimi Raikkonen’s positive COVID-19 result which has sidelined him in self isolation.
Kubica only had FP3 to get to grips with the new track which he handled well with a total of 28 laps and finishing 19th.
The session was not without its sketchy moments as the coastal wind started to creep its way into the track.
Sebastian Vettel went wide clipping the polystyrene DRS board as he drifted back onto the track and sped up towards the front straight.
Soon after Vettel’s near miss it was Carlos Sainz who ran into a conundrum coming out of turn 3. Sainz spun and hit the barrier after losing the rear with a gust of tailwind.
His front left was destroyed and a smaller amount of damage occurred to the rear left. It seemed Sainz lost his rear end after the car slightly understeered from a change in wind felt heavily from behind.
Due to the tight nature of the course, there was nowhere for the Spaniard to go.
The question now is whether that car can be repaired by the Ferrari mechanics before qualifying just 2 and a half hours later.
Lando Norris almost got caught out with a trip through the gravel but kept his foot on the throttle and had the momentum to ease his way out.
Other than those incidents, teams were getting to grips with the consistent issue of traffic which will be unavoidable in qualifying.
The star of the session, Verstappen, only completed 12 laps which was the least amount aside from Carlos Sainz after his crash eliminated him from the 2nd half of the session.
Verstappen was also the only driver to break into the 1.09s which is a positive sign ahead of qualifying. He was also a full half a second clear of the second placed Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.
So who will take pole at Zandvoort? It seems Red Bull’s Verstappen is in an ideal position but with the recurring issue of wind, red flags, and traffic who knows what will happen!
Here are how the drivers finished in the final practice:
| POS | DRIVER | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | 1:09.623 |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | 1:10.179 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | 1:10.417 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | 1:10.526 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | 1:10.670 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | 1:10.781 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | 1:10.842 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | 1:10.872 |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | 1:10.896 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | 1:11.005 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | 1:11.013 |
| 12 | Nicholas Latifi | 1:11.083 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | 1:11.180 |
| 14 | George Russell | 1:11.274 |
| 15 | Antonio Giovinazzi | 1:11.299 |
| 16 | Carlos Sainz | 1:11.940 |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | 1:11.980 |
| 18 | Nikita Mazepin | 1:12.136 |
| 19 | Robert Kubica | 1:12.162 |
| 20 | Mick Schumacher | 1:12.366 |
Featured image source: twitter.com/redbullracing
