There was no doubt that the weekend in Holland was one to follow, and in fact, the first twist has already arrived, which concerns the landlord Verstappen.
Problems for Verstappen
During the first free practice session at Zandvoort, Verstappen he was ready to go right-left at turns 2-3 and, when downshifting, reported problems that forced him to stop the car after only 10 minutes from the start of the session. “Exchange problems" – said the Dutch driver via a team radio.
And now?
Not great news for the world champion. Already yesterday, i its engineers worked in the gearbox area who today abandoned the number one in the world. However, if, through the appropriate analyses, the technicians of Austrian stable should show gearbox problems, it is not excluded that Verstappen could be penalized on Sunday.
The penalty risk increases
Verstappen in fact already is to the fifth gearboxas well as its components. Precisely for this reason, the penalty risk is very high. So the weekend does not start in the best way for the Dutch driver who, after the penalty in Spa, risks having to perform another comeback even in front of the orange tide. We'll see what Red Bull decides, meanwhile FP1 is underway and the Red Bull box will do its utmost to allow Verstappen to run the second session. scheduled at 16.00. We will therefore see if there will be any communications from Red Bull. In fact, it is not excluded that Verstappen could reassemble gearbox components already used during this season, thus avoiding the penalty.
In the event of a penalty, Zandvoort will present an excellent chance for the Ferrari than with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc he is absolutely looking for redemption after the forgettable race in Belgium, in which the Ferrari driver finished in third place, while Leclerc only snatched the sixth position (however he started from the rear).
