Dutch Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

Both drivers exited qualifying in Q1 – with only the top 15 drivers advancing into Q2. Ocon ran three new sets of Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires – the Frenchman progressively faster with each run, with a final stint delivering a best lap of 1:10.197 for P18. Bearman ran two sets of new softs in Q1 with his fastest time set on his opening run – a 1:10.262 placing the British rookie P19 at the checkered flag.

McLaren locked out the front row of the grid in Q3 with Oscar Piastri claiming pole (1:08.662) ahead of teammate Lando Norris (1:08.674).

Ollie Bearman:

“The first run went really well and I had a good feeling in the car, it seemed like we were in a good window. On the second run we were on used tires and we still looked to be pretty decent, but then going onto new tires everyone else improved and I didn’t manage to make that improvement. I had a very different feeling underneath me compared to the previous set of tires, and there is a small change we made between the two runs, so we need to see if that was the cause of our issues or not. Our race pace has been okay, I’m not super hopeful, but we’ll see what we can do.”

Esteban Ocon:

“It was a difficult session but things had started to get better, especially on the last set of tires. We had the pace to get into Q2 – it was only one tenth that separated us from it, but unfortunately I went a little wide in Turn 11 and that cost me a little bit. Both Ollie and I had the pace to get into Q2, but we just didn’t make it unfortunately. We need to reflect on why that is and if we can do a better job in the race tomorrow. Historically, we’ve had better race pace, so let’s see if we can do something different, we knew it was going to be tough.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“It’s a tough result to take. You can see when we get things right, for example – the potential of the car from the first run in FP3 and Q1 with Ollie. The car is very good, but for one reason or another, we haven’t been able to get the best out of it consistently. We have to put it together, if we work together and really pay attention to the detail and deliver – if we do that, I have no doubt we can get there. But we need to get there as we’re going to run out of races to perform this year.”