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The first day of the 2022 F1 Dutch GP is in the rearview mirror now. Both the sessions (FP1 and FP2) are done and what we have with us are some very interesting possibilities. Max Verstappen and Red Bull have had a rather rough first day. Mercedes and Ferrari have topped a session each. McLaren seems to have come alive on this track while Williams is back to the harrowing depths of being a backmarker.
Having said that, what we have tomorrow on Saturday is arguably the most important session of the day. Given the nature of the track where overtaking might not be the easiest, qualifying is going to hold the utmost importance this weekend. So what can we expect from the 2022 F1 Dutch GP Qualifying? Let's find out!
Disappointment of the session (Team)
AlphaTauri's points at Spa were a bright spot for a team that has had a rough season this time around. Having said that, we are back on a track that demands downforce and the Italian squad is struggling once again. After a strong 2022 F1 Belgian GP, expect a not-so-strong showing by AlphaTauri in the 2022 F1 Dutch GP.
Disappointment of the session (Driver)
That McLaren is flying around the tight confines of Zandvoort. Not in the hands of Daniel Ricciardo though. The Australian once again had a strong start to the weekend and was only a couple of tenths off his teammate. As the day wore on, however, Ricciardo's gap to his teammate grew bigger and bigger.
Making things somewhat worse was the revelation that McLaren had already signed Oscar Piastri by July 4 and did not even bother to tell Daniel Ricciardo all this while. The Australian is notorious for being somewhat emotional and this revelation is surely going to hurt him. Expect another disappointing outing from Ricciardo at the 2022 F1 Dutch GP qualifying.
Surprise of the session (Team)
Keep an eye on McLaren this weekend, especially in qualifying. Once you load that car up with downforce, it just flies by the looks of it! This weekend has seen just that as Lando Norris has been flying in all the sessions. His FP2 finished with him only a tenth off the fastest time.
Not only that, this weekend has seen McLaren look alive on the track. At the same time, Red Bull has been a bit of a mystery. The car hasn't looked as good as it generally does. Could McLaren be on its way to do some giant killing? Expect something special from Lando Norris.
Surprise of the session (Driver)
Sebastian Vettel was rather confused by the gulf between his time and his teammate's at the end of FP2 for the 2022 F1 Dutch GP. Lance Stroll put together a strong laptime that was even faster than Fernando Alonso at the time. Having said that, what the Canadian has demonstrated this weekend is that the car certainly has performance in its back pocket.
The rear wing modification that the team has brought here for the 2022 F1 Dutch GP performed admirably at the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP as well. For the qualifying session on Saturday, we're predicting Sebastian Vettel to sort out the issues with the car and reach Q3 for Aston Martin.
Top 3 in 2022 F1 Dutch GP qualifying
All season, this has been one of the easiest predictions to make. We've had Red Bull and Ferrari at the front and all we had to do was eliminate one of the 4 drivers and we get our top 3.
Red Bull's form in FP2 has made things rather interesting. It would be foolish to expect the team to not sort out its issues before FP3 tomorrow. Lest we forget, this was its first session of running with Max Verstappen and there will be a lot of fine-tuning going on with the car on Friday night.
Before the 2022 F1 Dutch GP, we've had similar high downforce characteristics at tracks like Hungary and Monaco. Red Bull was very competitive in both of them. Taking that into consideration, the smart bet will go towards the Milton Keynes-based outfit sorting things out and getting back into contention.
At this point, ideally, it does appear that Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull will all be in contention for pole this time around. Another key consideration is that Mercedes scored pole position with George Russell at the last high downforce track F1 raced at (Hungaroring).
If we have to pick the top 3, we will back Red Bull to close the gap to the front and challenge for Pole Position. Having said that, Verstappen is not our favorite for pole position. The track looks tailor-made for Ferrari and we're backing the team to shine.
In our prediction for the top 3, we have Verstappen in P3, and then a Ferrari front row. When it comes to picking the pole sitter, we're going with Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque is undeniable when it comes to qualifying and we're backing him to add another pole position to his tally at the 2022 F1 Dutch GP.
