Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel blamed dirt dragged on track by Lance Stroll for their Q1 exits at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Both McLaren and Aston Martin are enjoying a stronger weekend in Zandvoort, as highlighted by their respective teammates reaching Q3 in qualifying.
In the case of Vettel, he had gone purple in Sector 1 on his final run in Q1 but saw his lap ruined as he went off into the gravel at the penultimate corner.
“On my final Q1 lap I picked up some sand on my left-side wheels on the entry to Turn 13,” the German, who was 16th fastest, explained.
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“At that point, you are really focused on the apex kerb on the right – I wasn’t trying anything fancy – and I just drifted off-line and lost the car.
“I guess you could say I got caught out by the ‘zand’ in Zandvoort!
“My pace until that point had looked very good – that last lap was easily good enough for Q2 – and I think we could probably have got to Q3 too.
“It’s a shame, and it makes things harder for tomorrow because we will basically start last. We will see if we can find a smart strategy solution, but it will probably be a long afternoon.”
As for Ricciardo, it was yet more disappointment after also suffering the fallout from the Aston Martin’s going rallying.
“[At the] second last corner I guess whoever was in front of me, they put a wheel in the dirt or something,” he told Formula1.com.
“So as soon as I pulled out of the chicane, corkscrew, whatever, I was looking obviously up to the next apex and could see just brown all over the track.
“A lot of dirt and I was hoping it wouldn’t affect the grip, but it did and cost me about three-tenths, I think, so that was a difference, putting me out in Q1.
“I think the lap was…it was okay. It’s not electrifying but it was definitely good enough to keep going in qualy and I think then it was probably a couple of tenths to find.”
