Quebec’s Lance Stroll bounced back by setting the eighth fastest time in Friday’s second free practice session of the Dutch Formula One Grand Prix after failing to set a time in the morning session.
Engine problems ended the first session early for the driver who was recovering from a recent infection. Luckily for him, his Aston Martin team was able to fix the problem and he later set a fast lap of 1 minute 11.835 seconds. He finished better than teammate Fernando Alonso, tenth, with a time of 1 minute and 11.863 seconds.
• Also read: Lance Stroll is plagued by an infection a few days before the Grand Prix
“After this first day I feel good. “We had an engine failure and didn’t ride much in the morning, which is a shame because Zandvoort is a great track and a lot of fun,” Stroll mentioned on his training website. Luckily everything was sorted out quickly so I could come back for the next session. We need to check the data tonight [vendredi] to assess what needs to be corrected and come back tomorrow to continue our program.”
Verstappen thrilled the audience
Developing in front of his supporters, Dutchman Max Verstappen dominated the early tests with a margin of 1min 11.852s over Alonso (+0.278s). However, the Red Bull color bear saw Lando Norris (McLaren) outperform him in the following session. The Briton’s time of 1:11.330 minutes was 0.023 seconds better.
“The improvements to the AMR23 are good, even if we weren’t able to implement our hoped-for plan; There were a few warning signs. For me it’s nothing dramatic and we got a lot of information. However, we have to analyze all this and collect all the information,” said Alonso.
The final practice session and qualifying will take place on Saturday, still at the Zandvoort circuit. The race takes place the next day. In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen leads with 314 points and his closest pursuer is Sergio Perez (189), Red Bull’s other driver.