Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari/7th) can’t make head nor tail of it: a completely different car

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, whilst delighted with George Russell’s sprint pole, notes: “Ferrari’s endurance runs were truly impressive; we need to step it up a gear.”

But no Ferrari will be starting from the front row in the Zandvoort Sprint (Lando Norris in the McLaren is second fastest), with Charles Leclerc third and Lewis Hamilton only seventh. What happened there?

Hamilton, who has yet to win a Grand Prix at Zandvoort, steps up to the microphones with a contrite expression: “That wasn’t a good qualifying session at all. But unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

“In free practice, the car actually felt quite good; we worked tirelessly on it to fine-tune the set-up. But when the Sprint qualifying began, pfff, it was a completely different car.”

“I need to find out how that could have happened, and then we need to learn the right lessons from it for the rest of the weekend.”

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Zandvoort: Sprintrennen

FIA Formula One World Championship

22.08.2026 - 11:30

“Things look quite different for Charles at the moment; he feels more comfortable in the car. Right now, I’m a bit at a loss. We need to take our time and look through all the data.”