RUssell, meanwhile, said he hoped flares would not be banned in F1 completely as they were “part of the show”. But he too stressed they could be dangerous if thrown onto the track. “If you run over it, and it is sharp, it can give you a puncture,” he said. “It is one of those things where it could be harmless or cause a lot of damage. It is quite a spectacle to see it in the stands, but I can’t imagine if you are standing there it is that pleasant.
“It would be a shame to see them banned and stopped for good because it has become part of the show, but I would like to see people show common sense rather than throwing flares on to the track.”
Hamilton, for his part, said he had been largely oblivious to it all, admitting he was more disappointed that his final run in Q3 had to be aborted.
Wolff had suggested that Hamilton might even have been on for pole, with the on-car data suggesting his man was “one tenth up” on Verstappen at the time. “We don’t know how it would have come out but I think we were definitely [in the mix] for pole,” Wolff said.
Hamilton wasn’t so sure, saying he felt Verstappen and the two Ferraris might have been “a bit too quick”.
But he added that the afternoon as a whole had been “optimistic”. “I am much happier coming into this weekend and having a car that is fighting for a front row grid slot,” he said. “I don’t understand it, though. One weekend it can be so far off and then all of a sudden we are right there.
“But there are lots of positives to take today, and if we didn’t have the yellow flag [after Perez’s spin] we could have been fighting for the front row. I’m definitely optimistic.”
So is Russell, who was extremely bullish in his post-race media session, saying he felt Mercedes would be faster than both Perez and the two Ferraris on Sunday.
Their issue is that Zandvoort, with its steep banking on multiple corners, is not the easiest for overtaking. “It’s difficult to overtake here,” Hamilton conceded. “But the car was strong today, and I felt like I could have gone quicker. So hopefully that translates to tomorrow. I will be pushing as hard as I can for a podium.”
Dutch Grand Prix qualifying classification
- Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1min 10.342
- Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:10.363
- Carlos Sainz Jr (Spa) Ferrari 1:10.434
- Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:10.648)
- Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1|:11.077
- George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP (1:11.147
- Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:11.174
- Mick Schumacher (Ger) Haas 1:11.442
- Yuki Tsunoda (Jpb) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:12.556
- Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:11.416
- Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:11.512
- Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:11.605
- Fernando Alonso (Spa) Alpine 1:11.613
- Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:11.704
- Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:11.802
- Valterri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:11.961
- Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) McLaren 1:12.081
- Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas 1:12.319
- Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Aston Martin [email protected]
- Nicholas Latifi (Can) Williams 1:13.353
