Ferrari's Qualifying Struggles Ferrari which on Saturday in qualifying was 9/10 behind pole position and could not go beyond sixth place secured a Podium finish after the 72 laps of the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix there were no Charles Leclerc's Performance retirements or errors from competitors the third place achieved by Charles L clerk came from performance with a gap of only 2 and a half seconds at the finish line from Max for stappen it has A Race Animal been known for some time that the sf24 is more of a race animal than a qualifying one but on the eve of the race it was Charles L clerk himself who indicated sixth place as the best possible result team principal Frederick Team Principal's Insight vur explained that he often mentions how the details can sometimes make the difference whether positive or negative The Importance of Details he noted that when performance is lacking there is a tendency to push too hard which can cause Tire issues in an Aggressive Strategies attempt to compensate aggressive strategic choices might be made leading to an even more negative spiral however A Perfect Day on that particular day everything went in the right direction things went well Key Moments at Circuit Zandvoort from the start at the 4. 259 km circuit xanor with Charles lerk being able to overtake the Red Bull RB 20 car of Sergio Perez at the beginning it was a The Undercut on Lap 25 key moment in the monagas race along with the very effective undercut executed on lap 25 the French manager explained that they had initially planned the stop for the 26th lap but decided to bring It Forward by one lap without it posing a risk in terms of Tire management the early Pit Stop allowed the monagas driver to pass both George Russell and Oscar piastri although it quickly became evident that the Mercedes driver lacked the pace to regain the position while with Oscar piastri Charles L Clerk's outcome seemed already determined after the pit stop Oscar stopped on lap 33 the gap between McLaren and Ferrari was 8 seconds a margin that piastri closed in 10 laps the overtake seemed inevitable but Charles L clerk began to perform his little Miracle by fending off the first attacks Ferrari proved to be consistent and after the initial failed overtaking attempts McLaren saw the tire Advantage slip away at that point Oscar pastry's only chance to grab the podium depended on a drop in performance from L Clerk's set of hard tires but Charles responded lap after lap without any issues Frederick vur added that he preferred not to delve into technical details emphasizing that it was a matter of Tire management from the window in which they put on the tires they could see from the first lap that they were in good shape in such a position it becomes possible to push a little more without risking Tire Damage he admitted that he was initially concerned when Charles L clerk was behind George Russell fearing potential issues in the final part of the stint But ultimately everything went well somewhat surprisingly ferari put a A good comeback race by Carlos Sainz very well-balanced car on the track despite having to do without Carlos Saints on Friday who was sidelined by a transmission problem the available data was less than usual in The Paddock some joked that maybe it was a stroke of luck and the setup changes proved impeccable allowing the scoot area to leave zort with 25 points one less than Red Bull and 15 more than Mercedes the good comeback race by Carlos Saints who started from 10th place also contributed to the hall the Spaniard set up a comeback race that brought him to seventh place after 11 laps the position that had been indicated as the best possible result before the start of the Dutch Grand Prix Carlos sains went further by overtaking George Russell and on the 47th lap passing Sergio Perez with a skillful move on the outside of the Tarzan corner he admitted that he hadn't expected this explaining that after the qualifying session he had been somewhat pessimistic and disappointed however during the race the car with a full fuel load immediately felt better than in the previous days qualifying in the end he finished six or seven seconds from the top three which he considered a really good performance he noted that being able to overtake a Red Bull on such a challenging track indicated that the car was in an optimal operating window and he believed he drove very well something he felt proud of having overcome the feared zort hurdle Scuderia Ferrari now looks ahead to the Monza weekend in the Italian Grand Prix where the anticipated aerodynamic package of technical updates should allow the Marinello team to consistently fight for the podium without surprises the achievable goals will become clear after the Monza Baku and Singapore rounds and even though at the moment imagining a Ferrari capable of of troubling McLaren their closest rival in the constructor's standings seems like a very risky prediction the story of the 2024 Formula 1 championship so far has shown that even certainties should be taken with caution that's what Charles lerk Carlos sains and the entire Marinello team are hoping for looking back at the events in Dutch GP: McLaren's success the 15th round of the 2024 Formula One Championship we can say that this is how one grows this is how one becomes a champion Lando Norris triumphed at the xand vort circuit a track that belongs to the nobility of Formula 1 despite once again making a mistake at the start but instead of immediately reacting to Max veren's overtake at the race start he calmly waited for the right moment 17 laps later and made the pass then as he himself recounted with relief everything was easy all downhill winning at Max forsten's home track where he had been thrashed at zeltweg had the flavor of a Revenge of meaning and hope now the three-time Formula 1 World Champion knows he has a more mature rival more tempered by the small setbacks that are inevitable in a growth phase one does not become a champion overnight and Norris if he continues as he did in the Netherlands will reach the top in the right way in the meantime he established himself decisively with a pace impossible for all the rivals thanks also to a McLaren Mercedes that continues to grow and is getting stronger race after race so much so that now the constructor's champion ship is Within Reach while Max verstappen's 70-point lead in the driver's Championship seems like climbing Everest the Abyssal gap of 22.8 seconds inflicted on Red Bull along with an incredible fastest lap on the final lap of the Dutch Grand Prix explains the balance of power at xand vort better than many words while McLaren's success was widely expected what surprised everyone was Charles L Clerk's thirdd place on Saturday the monagas driver had said it would take a miracle to get on the post and in the race the miracle happened not so much for the placement identical to the one achieved in Belgium before the summer break but because Ferrari finished just 2.6 seconds behind Max verstappen's Red Bull neither Charles ler nor Frederick vur could explain what happened it was probably a fortunate combination of factors the first of which was the track surface temperature which made the tires work well mitigating the usual limits in fast Corners under these conditions the monagas driver was able to to take risks delivering a stunning race considering that in an endless duel full of driving finesse and acrobatics the Ferrari man held off Oscar pastry's comeback who had tires nine laps fresher than his Mercedes on the other hand was missing this weekend having dominated the previous two Grands Prix but was non-existent at zort the only breath of joy and optimism coming from stutgart is the announcement that in the first practice sessions at Monza on Friday there will be the absolute debut of Kimmy Antonelli signaling a new era in Formula 1 for Italy but returning to the Netherlands one cannot Overlook the brilliant performance of Carlos Saints who despite very few laps in practice due to his gearbox problem in fp2 and the difficult weather conditions and Logan Sergeant's crash in fp3 finished the race in fifth place with a pace that was also Podium worthy another piece of good news for the Marinello team as substantial modifications will be brought to the car for the Italian Grand Prix next weekend and maybe we will finally start to really enjoy ourselves