Lando Norris completed a clean sweep of Friday’s F1 Dutch Grand Prix practice after narrowly edging Fernando Alonso in a dramatic FP2 session that featured multiple crashes and red flags.
Norris set the pace with a fastest lap of 1:09.890 outpacing Alonso by just 0.087 seconds, while McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri was a mere two-thousandths of a second behind in third place.
The hour-long FP2 session was marked by challenging conditions atop the scenic but technically demanding Zandvoort circuit which is known for its undulating terrain and proximity to the North Sea coast.
The session began with Haas driver Oliver Bearman taking an early lead with a lap time of 1:11.113 on soft tires, showcasing the unpredictability of the practice sessions.
However, the early momentum was halted by the first red flag of the session after Lance Stroll crashed heavily at the high-speed banked Turn 3, a corner notorious for its difficulty and low grip.
Stroll locked his front-left tire entering the corner and understeered into the barrier, severely damaging the right side of his Aston Martin AMR25.
Fortunately, the Canadian driver communicated over the radio that he was unharmed, but his crash necessitated a significant car rebuild for Aston Martin, potentially involving gearbox and chassis replacements given the extent of the damage.
Prior to the incident, Stroll had shown strong form by finishing third fastest in FP1, underlining the misfortune of his heavy impact early in FP2.
Shortly after resumption following Stroll crash, Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar suffered a technical issue during his out-lap and was forced to stop his car on track, triggering a Virtual Safety Car.
This incident briefly disrupted the flow but was cleared with reasonable speed, allowing the drivers to continue pushing in the session’s latter stages.
During this phase lap times began to drop significantly as the weather conditions improved, with the sun breaking through the clouds and the track temperature rising, enabling drivers to post much quicker sector times.
Fernando Alonso put forth an impressive lap of 1:09.977 on soft tires, briefly setting the benchmark in the session before Lando Norris responded by edging ahead with his fastest lap.
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Another crash would follow later in the session when the Williams of Alex Albon crashed straight off the track at Turn 1, known as Tarzan corner, damaging his front wing against the barriers and leading to the second red flag.
Albon’s incident resulted in the session being paused once again to recover his beached car from the gravel.
During the second stoppage, Oscar Piastri narrowly avoided a collision with George Russell in the pit lane, prompting a stewards’ investigation into the incident.
The closing moments did little to alter the established order with Norris ultimately completing a clean sweep of Friday’s F1 Dutch Grand Prix practice, solidifying his position as the driver to beat heading into qualifying and race day.
Fernando Alonso finished second just 0.087 seconds behind Norris, while Piastri completed the top three, a mere two thousandths of a second behind Alonso.
Russell was fourth fastest followed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in fifth, while Lewis Hamilton managed to finish sixth in the Ferrari despite suffering two spins and some flat-spotted tires.
Yuki Tsunoda delivered a solid seventh for Red Bull, while Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc ended the session in eighth place as Ferrari showed glimpses of improvement.
Franco Colapinto delivered a commendable ninth for Alpine, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg who rounded out the top ten for Sauber.
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