Van Amersfoort Racing team principal Frits van Amersfoort said Richard Verschoor should have qualified higher than 14th for the FIA Formula 2 Championship’s Zandvoort round.
Verschoor was 13th after the first set of flying laps. Three red flags in the second half of the session – deployed with 7:16, 3:49 and 0:50 to go – prevented all drivers bar Zane Maloney from improving positions. The session did not restart after the final red flag.
The second of the three red flags was deployed for a spin at Turn 10 by Verschoor’s teammate Juan Manuel Correa, who ended the session a career-best seventh.
Verschoor, who was 0.407 seconds behind pole-sitter Jak Crawford, also received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Maloney during Qualifying. That penalty demoted him to 17th on the grid for the Sprint Race, which was then halted after three laps and did not award points.
“Richard was of course very disappointing and was also more or less a victim of the red flag JM created and then again with the last red flag,” Van Amersfoort told InsideF2 in the paddock.
“His first run was disappointing and it should have been better. But this is F2, and you know that the risk is there.”
About Correa’s run, Van Amersfoort said, “I think he did a fantastic first stint. He was on his way to even improve. He had a purple first sector and then he spun, but I’m happy for JM, and I think we also see that as a team, we are progressing.
“Both cars can be fast, but it’s also – how do you say it – the state of the day we’re in.
It’s the second F2 round at Zandvoort featuring Zeewolde-based Van Amersfoort Racing but the first with a Dutch driver also in the squad. Van Amersfoort said Verschoor’s presence had increased both attention and pressure on the team.
“We are pretty secure here in the F2 paddock, but of course, there’s a lot of interest. It’s a bit of pressure on the team, but in the end, that’s why we are racing. We’re racing also for the audience, for the spectators.”
Image: Thomas Suer
