Looking to build after a “challenging day” of practice in Zandvoort

Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi have their first day of running at the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix under their belts.

Our No23 would finish P10 and P17 across the respective Free Practice sessions, whilst his Canadian teammate ranked P20 in both.

Both drivers would find extra lap time between the two sessions as they familiarised themselves with this non-stop layout – Nicky going from a 1:15.122 to a 1:14.797 and Alex, who is racing here for the first time since 2015, improving on his 1:14.063 up to a 1:13.837.

FP1 and FP2 both saw one red flag period each to further disrupt any planned programmes.

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance, shared his thoughts after the day's action had concluded, saying: “It has been a slightly challenging day in Zandvoort with both drivers struggling to find a comfortable balance.

“The track grip was low today and didn’t improve as quickly as we hoped. The tyres have also been tricky to manage as they get very little rest during a lap here, especially the front left.

“We have got some useful low-fuel data from today, but we are going to need to study this hard overnight to help guide the setup changes for tomorrow.

“We would’ve liked to have got some more high-fuel running done but red flags prevented this, which makes the race strategy a little difficult to judge at this stage.

“We will need to be flexible and agile on Sunday, but we are confident that this style of racing suits us.”

The Zandvoort Alex last visited has changed significantly since his 2015 appearance on the Dutch dunes, so today was as much about getting up to speed with the current layout as it was about extracting maximum performance.

“Whilst it wasn’t great today, it felt okay out there,” he explained, adding: “despite it being quite windy with a high downforce circuit.

“The cars that are quick are the opposite to last weekend, so it’s really different in terms of requirements for us.

“Ultimately, the track is just not suiting us today so it’s not easy, however, I think we know where we need to improve so it’s all about trying to get it done for tomorrow, knowing how important qualifying is.

“Hopefully we can make some changes that will improve our overall pace across the weekend, so that’s the goal.”

Nicky completed our reaction by admitting there was work to be done overnight, intending to find more time heading into the rest of the weekend.

“Today was a really tough day for the team and especially for me. Obviously, FP1 is difficult to judge as the track is completely different going into the weekend.

“It’s very windy out there and some corners are more affected than others. All in all, I struggled with a lot of different things and need to work on finding the right rhythm with driving and balancing the car.

“This is a track that requires a lot of commitment and you need to feel everything so I have a lot of homework to do tonight so that I can push the car more confidently the rest of the weekend.”

In Formula 2, Logan Sargeant secured P3 in qualifying for Sunday’s Feature Race, placing him P8 in tomorrow’s Sprint whilst Roy Nissany will start both in P14.

Meanwhile, it is the penultimate round of the season in Formula 3 and Zak O’Sullivan locked in a P10 grid spot shortly before a late red flag ensured an early end to proceedings.