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Jay Freeman
Five in Five: Formula 1 quiz No 1published at 13:49 BST 23 August
13:49 BST 23 August
Formula 1 returns from its summer break and heads to Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix so we thought we would mark the race with this Five in Five game.
The rules are simple. We want you to give us five correct answers inside five minutes.
'Car is fast' - Hamiltonpublished at 13:47 BST 23 August
13:47 BST 23 August
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, speaking during the drivers' parade, before the race: "We're in P5, there's some work that comes ahead of us. We'll work hard as a team to try and close the gap."
"Qualifying was a little bit better yesterday. I've got to give it to the guys, the car is fast, we'll keep trying to put the pressure on."
Lando Norris starts from pole position on a track
where overtaking is difficult, and every Dutch Grand Prix since Zandvoort
returned to the calendar in 2021 has been won from pole, so the world champion
is strong favourite for victory, right? Well, not so fast.
In the sprint race,
McLaren’s pace was not strong compared to Mercedes and Ferrari, and although
team boss Andrea Stella says they’ve made tweaks to the set-up to help that
since Norris lost second place in the sprint to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the
car’s fundamental weakness in low-speed corners remains a handicap. All the
more so in the race, as the drivers spend longer in the slow corners during a
race than in qualifying.
So, with Mercedes’ George Russell
and Kimi Antonelli behind him, this could be a tough afternoon for Norris. A
two-stop looks like the fastest strategy, and McLaren are probably heading into
the race thinking of a start on mediums and then two sets of hards. But if
Mercedes are faster, they have multiple ways to pass him - stop first and
under-cut him. Wait, run longer and build a tyre offset, or even go for a
one-stop. A one-stop medium-hard is claimed by Pirelli to be the best strategy
but strategists feel that’s possible but slow, and a driver choosing it is
likely to be overtaken.
Unlike the other front-runners,
the Ferrari drivers and Max Verstappen have a set of new softs available so
will almost certainly start on them. And as one engineer said: “Lewis
(Hamilton) loves a two-stop.” A pit stop takes about 19 seconds under green-flag
conditions, nine under safety car.
Get Involved - Zandvoort memoriespublished at 13:43 BST 23 August
13:43 BST 23 August
Use 'Get Involved' button to have your say
I love Zandvoort because of it's short length, banked corners and seaside location, and it's one of the fastest tracks. And the food in the Netherlands is entertaining!
Nick, London
Great images of Zandvoort in John Frankenheimer's Grand Prix film, in the days when you never saw F1 in colour.
'It's going to be an interesting race' - Russellpublished at 13:41 BST 23 August
13:41 BST 23 August
Image source, Getty Images
Mercedes' George Russell speaking to Sky Sports ahead of starting P2:"It feels like more of a normal weekend, the cars feeling more intuitive, I've got more confidence in the car. Let's see what today brings, it's going to be an interesting race. I think the Ferraris are going to be quick, Lando's going to be fast, it'll be a good fight
"I think having the two of us starting behind Lando, it gives us the chance to do something different and put McLaren under pressure. Lap one is going to be really important its going to make a big difference where we come out of turn one. I think there will be opportunities.
"I'm pretty sure we'll see some people on softs especially after yesterday, Leclerc had a strong [sprint] race."
'I'm excited' - Norrispublished at 13:39 BST 23 August
13:39 BST 23 August
Image source, Getty Images
McLaren's Lando Norris, speaking to Sky Sports, on the race: "I'm on pole so I enjoyed it a lot. I enjoyed the result, it's the best place to start here today. I'm excited to see what we can do."
"I'm expecting quite a bit of a challenge from Mercedes and Ferrari. I just want to have a good race and try and take the final win here in Zandvoort."
Hamilton aims for final Zandvoort winpublished at 13:35 BST 23 August
13:35 BST 23 August
When you're as experienced as Lewis Hamilton and have won in as many places as he has, it has an extra bit of impact to tick another track off the list.
One place he hasn't won at in Formula 1 is Zandvoort. And today, of course, is the final time Formula 1 is racing there before it drops off the calendar.
In a press conference earlier this week, when asked about prospect of winning here, Hamilton said: "I don't think I've won here, as far as I'm aware. I've won it pretty much all the other tracks. But I don't remember if I've won here before, so I definitely want to change that.
"It's just such an incredible circuit. Great crowd, obviously. Very special, particularly for Max as he comes here and has the incredible support through the weekend. They really create the atmosphere. And it's a track I've yet to really truly conquer, say, in Formula 1. So it's definitely something I want to try and do this weekend.”
'It's nice to try and remember all the great times we've had here' - Verstappenpublished at 13:22 BST 23 August
13:22 BST 23 August
Image source, Getty Images
Max Verstappen speaking before his final home race: "A lot of great memories made here, amazing to always see this support and I'm definitely going to try to race as much as I can.
"Unfortunately this year we're not as competitive as we'd like to be, we'll try to fight the guys ahead and see how competitive we can be against them.
"Overall it's nice to try and remember all the great times we've had here and well definitely try and add another memory here today."
What is the Zandvoort weather forecast?published at 13:17 BST 23 August
13:17 BST 23 August
Ian Fergusson BBC weather forecaster
Image source, Getty Images
A shower is about to cross the circuit from the north west, but once cleared by about 14:30 local, it is expected that dry conditions will then re-establish for the race.
As we've said, the Dutch Grand Prix drops off the calendar after this weekend.
But what are your favourite memories of Zandvoort in the recent - or distant - past? With its short length, banked corners and seaside location, it's one of the fastest tracks on the calendar.
But what sticks out to you when you think of the circuit?
Let us know using the 'get involved' button on this page.
Mercedes lead the waypublished at 13:10 BST 23 August
13:10 BST 23 August
Image source, Getty Images
Mercedes head into the
second half of the season with a 76-point advantage over second-placed
Ferrari in the constructors' championship after yesterday's sprint race. Reigning title holders
McLaren are third, 50 points clear of Red Bull in fourth.
Racing
Bulls jumped above Alpine with double points in Hungary last time out
to claim fifth place, and Audi in eighth added another point to their
tally thanks to Nico Hulkenberg's ninth-placed finish.
Antonelli out aheadpublished at 13:05 BST 23 August
13:05 BST 23 August
Image source, Getty Images
Teenager Kimi Antonelli,
who turns 20 on Tuesday, is leading the drivers' championship by 53 points from seven-time title winner Lewis Hamilton, with Mercedes
team-mate George Russell 56 points off in third place.
Reigning
world champion Lando Norris has moved to within 10 points of
fourth-placed Charles Leclerc after his win in Hungary before the summer
break but is now 11 points off after yesterday's sprint race, while Liam Lawson, stepping in for Isack Hadjar over at Red Bull
in Zandvoort this weekend, is level on points with Alpine's Pierre Gasly.
The final Dutch Grand Prix weekend before the event drops off the Formula 1 calendar has been about managing the conditions.
Yesterday, rain may not have directly impacted the sprint race and qualifying, but it did make some drivers and teams very wary having had a few near misses or trips into the gravel.
As for today, Lando Norris starts on pole with McLaren entering the latter half of this season looking like they are in better form than how they started it.
Not unlike George Russell, really, who won yesterday's sprint off the back of picking up sprint pole on Friday and appears to be refreshed following the summer break.
Russell still has a fair old gap to bridge to Mercedes team-mate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli, but it's fair to say he's looked the better of the two drivers so far this weekend.