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Dave Robson says the experience of racing at the Circuit Zandvoort last year should help the Williams Racing team start the weekend this year at a good level of performance, although he is not expecting the track to be a strong one for the team.

Robson, the Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams, says the hard compound tyre might be a challenge to get working this weekend, but Pirelli’s medium and soft compounds should be easier to work with and are likely to be the tyres of choice.

Alexander Albon will need to relearn the Zandvoort track having not raced there since 2015, and Robson says they will be doing their best to give the Thai driver the chance to familiarise the circuit on Friday.

“Zandvoort provides quite a different challenge to last weekend in Spa with the circuit configuration being considerably different and the tyre compounds being a step harder,” said Robson.  

“The hard C1 compound was previously taken to Bahrain, Barcelona and Silverstone and could be a tricky compound this weekend. However, the Medium and Soft compounds are likely to work well.

Alexander Albon has not raced at Circuit Zandvoort for seven years, with the Thai driver admitting it will take a little bit of time to adapt to the track this weekend.

The Williams Racing driver arrives in The Netherlands on the back of a positive weekend in Belgium last weekend that saw him start sixth and score a point in tenth place.

Albon knows the Zandvoort track is completely different to the Spa-Francorchamps track from last weekend, and he knows Saturday will be extremely important to get a good position on the grid and put the team in a place where they can break into the top ten again on Sunday.

“Coming out of a successful weekend, we know Zandvoort is a very different track to Spa and we’ll need to adapt to the different requirements, with a much higher downforce and on a difficult track for overtaking,” said Albon.

“Saturday will be an important day for us and, whilst we’d like to have a repeat of Spa, that will obviously be slightly difficult.

Zandvoort plays host to the penultimate round of the FIA F3 championship this weekend, as only ten points separate the top five drivers in the standings.

After a disappointing week at Spa-Francorchamps for those fighting it out at the top of the championship, with Oliver Bearman being the only driver in the top four to score more than six points over the course of the weekend, the title favorites will be looking to redeem themselves in Zandvoort.

Arguably, the driver who faced the toughest weekend was ART’s, Victor Martins. The Frenchman went into the round joint top of the championship on one hundred and four points, and left Spa third in the championship, on the same points he entered with.

Martins is fully focused on the championship, and his own driving, as he expressed after an unfortunate qualifying session in Spa:  “I just want to be in front, winning races and getting pole positions and it’s like that that you will take the Championship, so I’m not focused on everyone else out there.”

The twenty-one-year-old will be incredibly keen to get back on the top step of the podium in Zandvoort, a position he hasn’t occupied since the feature race in round 3, at Barcelona.

Max Verstappen is buzzing to get going with his home Grand Prix, after the Dutchman dominated the field at the Belgian Grand Prix to claim his ninth victory of the season.

Verstappen was untouchable in Belgium, with the reigning World Champion now arguably out of reach of any of the pack behind. The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver is on the cusp of retaining his title, which he could achieve as soon as the Italian Grand Prix. Victory this weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix will just add to his incredible season, where he has blown all of his competitors away.

He’s not expecting it to be as easy this weekend at Zandvoort, though, with the Dutch driver expecting Scuderia Ferrari to be right in the mix.

Verstappen is predicting it to be a “pretty crazy” weekend, as he looks to deliver in front of his home supporters.

“After the successful weekend we’ve had in Spa, I’m really looking forward to the Dutch GP. There’s a lot more downforce required at the track in Zandvoort so it will be harder for us to be dominant, I expect Ferrari to be strong there. I of course want a good result but it’s important to always score points, lets hope we can do a good job. It will be great to have my family there supporting me, I’m just going to enjoy the weekend with all the fans, it’s going to be pretty crazy.”

Mercedes- AMG Team HRT driver, Luca Stolz, stormed through the field from eighth on the grid to win race two in DTM at the Nürburgring. Stolz moved to the front of the pack during the safety car period in the opening stages, as a quick pitstop from HRT and a flawless restart from the German secured the win.

The Van der Linde brothers, Sheldon, and Kelvin were flying after their 1-2 finish in race one. And they continued their rich run of form by qualifying first and second for race two.

Race one winner, Sheldon, made the better start. Holding onto his pole position through the opening laps, while Kelvin dropped back into the pack.

Sheldon’s Schubert Motorsport teammate, Philipp Eng, was making a rare appearance at the very front of the field after qualifying in third. The two teammates battled wheel to wheel through the first few couples with Van der Linde coming out ahead.

René Rast was forced into retirement after being punted around by David Schumacher in an accident similar to Bortolotti and Fraga’s incident in the race prior. The three-time DTM champion Rast, was angry after the incident, suggesting that some drivers would benefit from going back to lower categories to gain more experience.

Sheldon Van der Linde was handed the win in race one of DTM at the Nürburgring after Mirko Bortolotti crashed into race leader Felipe Fraga while trying to overtake the Brazilian in the closing stages of the race. Van der Linde led home his brother Kelvin, to make history as the first South Africans to achieve a 1-2 in DTM.

Ahead of the race, thick fog descended on the Eifel circuit, forcing qualifying to be abandoned. As a result, the drivers lined up on the grid in their championship positions after a near four-hour delay to the start.

Red Bull Alphatauri AF Corse driver, Felipe Fraga enjoyed a dream start from sixth on the grid, moving up to second place in as many corners. Sensing an opportunity to make up ground on the championship leaders, Fraga was not content to sit around behind Bortolotti. As the two entered the chicane, Fraga was bravest on the brakes to take the lead around the outside.

AF Corse pulled the pin first, bringing the race leader into the pitlane for fresh tires. In slippery, cold conditions tire warm-up was going to play a big role in strategic decision-making. As was evidenced when Bortolotti pitted from second a lap later and rejoined in the lead.

On his new cold tires, the Italian had no chance of keeping the Ferrari behind. As Fraga capitalised on his tire advantage and completed a textbook move to regain the lead. But those who thought the battle for the lead was over, were proven wrong when Bortolotti tried an optimistic move on Fraga in the closing stages of the race.

Sebastian Vettel will be hoping to make it three points finishes in a row at this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, in what will be his last time racing a Formula 1 car around the “old-school” Zandvoort.

Vettel had a strong Belgian Grand Prix last weekend, where he looked more than comfortable in the points places. Zandvoort is a very different type of circuit compared to Spa-Francorchamps, so it’ll be interesting to see how the AMR22 performs at the tight and twisty Dutch circuit.

On paper it shouldn’t be a strong circuit for the team; however, Vettel did manage to score points at the Hungaroring, which shares some similar characteristics to this weekend’s venue.

The four-time World Champion is excited for the “fantastic driving challenge” that Zandvoort presents, as he aims for another good weekend.

“The old-school nature of Zandvoort is so great, and it is such a fantastic driving challenge, particularly the first half of the track. I am curious to see how our car will perform here – on paper, it might be a difficult weekend for us, but we were able to race well in Hungary just before the summer break, and the circuits are quite similar. The 2022 cars can be raced better than last year’s cars, so we will see if we can make some moves in the race.”

London E-Prix winner Jake Dennis has signed a multi-year extension with Avalanche Andretti FE Team, which will see the British driver lead the team’s campaign into the new era of the sport.

Dennis was one of the most impressive drivers on the grid last season, with the Brit now “super motivated” to push on into the Gen3 future. Dennis joined Andretti’s Formula E programme in 2020, and has delivered ever since.

The British driver is looking forward to his future with Andretti, especially with the team now being powered by a Porsche powertrain.

“I started my Formula E journey with Andretti and I’m excited to continue to work with the team that has continued to support my career in this series. Season 9 with the Gen3 era is an exciting time for all teams, and for us in particular with the new relationship with Porsche supplying the powertrain.

“I’m super motivated for next year and feel certain that with the dedication, teamwork, and investment I’ve seen over the past two years with Avalanche Andretti FE, we’ll be able to fight for wins and titles in the future.”

Ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda undertook a unique method of preparation as the two driver raced against each in reverse gear around the Zandvoort circuit.

This was not the first time the two drivers have faced off in a unique race this season, as the two Formula One drivers raced in Swamp Buggies in Florida earlier this year.

The duo raced in DAF cars produced just two hours away from the Zandvoort circuit in Eindhoven. The cars were equipped with CVT transmissions featuring just two gears. One forward gear and the other being reverse. The unique DAF cars reach the same top speed of 120kph in both directions, forward and reverse.

Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Verstappen secured the pole position after Tsunoda’s DAF car ended up alongside the wall during the qualifying session.

The Dutch driver would go onto claim victory in the race around a specially built course for both drivers to navigate. Tsunoda pushed the championship leader close, but a wobble in the Hugenholtz bend proved to cost the Scuderia AlphaTauri driver any chance of victory.

Ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur has placed high importance on a strong qualifying result if the team is to snap their five-race streak of finishing outside the points.

The Swiss-based team have lost a substantial amount of ground in the midfield battle to the likes of the McLaren F1 Team and BWT Alpine F1 Team after such a promising start to the season.

Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen now find themselves competing with Haas F1 Team, Scuderia AlphaTauri and Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team to keep a hold of sixth place in the constructors standings.

The Alfa Romeo team have now failed to take a single point from their last five races as Valtteri Bottas was forced into an early retirement in Sunday’s race after avoiding a spinning Nicholas Latifi; he found himself beached in the gravel at Les Combes.

While for Zhou Guanyu, the Chinese driver found himself stuck towards the back of a DRS-train in Sunday’s race and was unable to make any real progress around the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit.

Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen enters this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix looking to rebound after a tough showing around the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit last weekend.

Valtteri Bottas’ race came to an impromptu end after attempting to avoid a skirmish with Nicholas Latifi, the Finn found himself beached in the gravel at Les Combes.

Last time out in Zandvoort, Bottas was able to secure a trip to the podium after finishing third behind Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

After such a promising start to the season with his new team, Bottas has now faced back-to-back retirements in Belgium and Hungary and has also been unable to secure a points finish since the Canadian Grand Prix.

Bottas enters this weekend’s Grand Prix optimistic that his point-less streak will come to it’s long-awaited end this weekend in the Netherlands.

“A new race week gives us the opportunity to recover straight away from an unfortunate weekend in Spa. I enjoyed racing in Zandvoort last year, where I also finished on the podium. It was disappointing to end last weekend’s race after only two laps, as the pace we went on showing with Zhou was good and I was confident we could have done well: with that pace as our starting point, we have the opportunity to build a strong performance for the weekend ahead, coming back with some points. The fans here are of course very passionate, so we will make sure to put up a good show for them.”

Zhou Guanyu: “our pace on track was promising, so hopefully we can keep up with it in Zandvoort”

With just two points scoring finishes to his name so far in his rookie season, Zhou Guanyu isn’t letting his confidence fade just yet.

Recapping on a tough weekend for the Haas F1 Team, Guenther Steiner has stated that despite being disappointed with today’s result at the Belgian Grand Prix, it came as no surprise to the Team Principal.

Starting from the back of the grid after new engine components were taken on his VF22, Mick Schumacher found himself in fourteenth place by the time the safety car had been brought out on the second lap of the race.

However, the lap after the safety car restart Schumacher found himself back in eighteenth place after the VF22 struggled with its top speed compared to the rest of the grid.

After undertaking a two-stop strategy, Schumacher would come home for a seventeenth-place finish around the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit.

For Kevin Magnussen, starting twelfth on the grid, the Dane was able to occupy a place inside the points by the third lap of the race but as the race wore on Magnussen would gradually fall down the order.

Undertaking the same two-stop strategy as Mick Schumacher, Magnussen would come home a place ahead of his teammate in sixteenth-place.

Reflecting on a tough weekend of action at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit, Steiner was keen to already look ahead at what promises to be a stronger weekend for the team in Zandvoort.

“I’m quite disappointed with the result today but it was almost expected. On a high-speed track where we need low drag, our car is just not good enough this year.

Team Principal Andreas Seidl has ensured McLaren F1 Team fans that they will not give up in the fight with the BWT Alpine F1 Team for fourth in the Constructors’ standings, even after a massively disappointing result at the Belgian Grand Prix. Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished twelfth and fifteenth respectively, leaving Seidl hoping for a much better weekend at Zandvoort.

McLaren face a big challenge being twenty points behind Alpine, but Seidl hopes the exciting and quick circuit will suit McLaren.

“Zandvoort is an incredibly quick circuit and has had some memorable moments over the years. With F1 trialing DRS through the final banked corner for FP1, it should be interesting to see how the new iteration of cars perform and what impact it has on our ability to overtake, especially as the cars can run side by side there. The undulation and swooping sections are also a good feature of the circuit and provide a nice challenge for the drivers.”

Seidl spoke about the disappointment of last weekend and how the team as a collective will look to bounce back this weekend.

“We’ve spent the last few days analyzing the past weekend and ensuring we learn as much as possible from it. The result in Spa was not what we hoped but we can take these learnings and use them to maximize our package. We need to keep our full focus on making every small gain and pushing the car to get as much as we possibly can out of it. Let’s keep our heads down and get back to it.” 

The Dutch Grand Prix returns this weekend for the second consecutive season on the FIA Formula 1 World Championship calendar. McLaren F1 Team’s Daniel Ricciardo will be hoping for a better race this time out, after he and his team-mate finished outside of the points in the Belgian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo is excited for Zandvoort and he is looking forward to both the atmosphere and the quick and exciting circuit.

“I’m looking forward to Zandvoort. It’s an awesome circuit and has such a fun, almost festival-like atmosphere which is great for your mood going into the weekend. It’s more of an old-school circuit with interesting features like Tarzan and the ability to overtake there, so I’m excited to get on track and see how different it is from last year in the new cars.”

The Australian is also looking to have the best possible end to his rather underwhelming period with McLaren, and help the team beat rivals BWT Alpine F1 Team.

“I’ve spent the last couple of days in Amsterdam resetting, eating stroopwafels, and looking at how we can improve for the coming weekend. Last weekend was not what we wanted it to be, but we’ve bounced back before so we can definitely do the same this time around. We’ve got some good learnings from Spa which we can use for this weekend so hopefully we come out a bit better and can properly battle with the Alpines.”

Molly Taylor is eager for another shot at the Dakar Rally after becoming the first Australian woman to compete in it this past year. On Wednesday, she announced she will return to the event for 2023, once again driving a Can-Am Maverick SSV for Can-Am Factory South Racing with Dale Moscatt as co-driver. Prior to Dakar, she will also compete in the Rallye du Maroc in October for the first time.

“I’m so excited to be heading back into the desert and taking on Dakar again as well as Rallye Du Maroc as part of my ongoing partnership with the Can-Am Factory South Racing team,” Taylor stated.

The 2016 Australian Rally Champion first made the jump to rally raid in 2021 at Baja Aragón with Can-Am, where she finished fifth in the T4 (SSV) class, followed by a ninth at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Both starts, as well as a three-race stint in the World Rally Championship, were side adventures to her main and successful pursuit of the inaugural Extreme E Championship.

Less than a month after securing the 2021 XE title with Rosberg X Racing, she made her Dakar début by placing fourteenth in the SSV category with a best stage finish of sixth in the ninth leg.

RXR did not retain Taylor for the 2022 XE season, but she returned to Saudi Arabia—where the Dakar Rally takes place—for the season opener on a one-race deal with JBXE and was classified ninth. While not competing for a major championship, she has spent the year carrying out ambassadorial duties for Subaru Australia and supporting Can-Am Factory South Racing at events like the Vegas to Reno.