The qualifying session of the Formula 1 Netherlands Grand Prix 2022 was stopped at the start of Q2 due to a red flag caused by an orange flare, characteristic of Dutch fans.
Alex Albon had been the first driver to go out on the circuit for the round that gives access to the fight for pole position, and he immediately had to return to the pits when Race Direction waved the red flag for the stewards to remove the orange flare , an item that has been banned from some Formula 1 circuits due to driver complaints about visibility and safety.
Until that moment, only Q1 had been developed, where Max Verstappen quickly set the best time of the weekend, achieving a time of 1:11.317, enough to be able to stay in the garage in the final minutes of the session and concentrate on moving forward to Q2.
The second position of that round was taken by Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri, just 0.110s from what the world champion did, but shortly after he dropped to third position, when Lewis Hamilton closed his last lap to stay just 14 thousandths of his rival for the title in the 2021 season, the Red Bull driver.
Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris closed the top five of Q1, while Sergio Pérez was eighth, just over three tenths away and the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso made the cut without major problems.
Valtteri Bottas was the first eliminated in his Alfa Romeo, followed by Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren, Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin and Nicholas Latifi’s Williams.
The four-time world champion was close to passing the round, but an exit from the track in the last sector when he was improving his lap sentenced him to the back of the grid.
The FIA later reported that the person who threw the flare onto the tarmac was identified and ejected from the stands.
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