Red flags, Sebastian Vettel had to put out his car! Hamilton also in trouble

The queen of motorsport has moved from the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit to the Netherlands, specifically to the circuit located in the coastal town of Zandvoort. And right from the start, there was plenty to watch as Sebastian Vettel had to put out his Aston Martin. Lewis Hamilton was also in trouble.

We’ve had two opening practice sessions in the Netherlands, and the first one has already produced some dramatic moments. Sebastian Vettel complained after the first 10 minutes or so about the MGU-K, which is a system that is used, for example, for energy recovery.

The four-time world champion then headed to his mechanics, but soon took to the track again. Which, as Aston Martin now knows, they shouldn’t have done.

His power unit caught fire inside the car about 45 minutes before the end of FP1. So Vettel had to abandon his car in a hurry. That’s how he subsequently tried to extinguish the whole thing.

The circuit was red-flagged and the first practice session on Friday was suspended for 35 minutes. That’s exactly how long no one dared touch Vettel’s Aston Martin!

” We’re not sure of the root cause yet, but Sebastian reported problems with the power unit.

We asked him to stop at the track marshals if there was a fire on his car. This is standard procedure for engine failure. That’s exactly what he did, but there’s always the potential for a fire. That’s why he took a fire extinguisher from the line marshal, which was to avoid a bigger fire.”

After the engine change, Vettel was able to start the second practice session. Again, however, we saw more red flags, but this time the Aston Martin had nothing to do with them. To the delight of the fans, Lewis Hamilton was forced to retire his Mercedes due to problems with power loss.

You’d expect that a second red flag (and we’re not racing yet) would be enough for Friday practice. About 20 minutes later, Nikita Mazepin took care of the third red flags.

He failed to control his monopost in turn 11 and ended up in the gravel zone.

The second practice session on Friday was dominated by Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Esteban Ocon finished third in the Alpine F1, with Valtteri Bottas fourth. Fifth place in the final standings after FP2 goes to Max Verstappen ahead of Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly.

Eighth place belongs to Lando Norris, ninth in the standings we find Antonio Giovinazzi and the top ten is closed by Vettel.

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