Norris set the fastest time in the second practice

Second part of free practice

Sky cloudy. Dry. Air +20С, route +34…33С

Despite the forecast, the rain only prevented Formula 2 practice on Friday, after which the track was dry all day. To the delight of the fans who already filled the stands on Friday, we can say that there was no precipitation.

Aston Martin has restored the car of Lance Stroll, who lost his first practice session due to power plant problems.

Already in the tenth minute the session was stopped by red flags. First Piastri crashed into the barrier after a corner in the profiled third corner, then Riccardo after a few seconds. Both cars had to be evacuated, after 12 minutes the riders left again and Oscar and Daniel remained in the pits.

In the second half of the session the drivers completed a short series of laps on Soft tyres, the results immediately improved.

At the last moment, Carlos Sainz crashed into the gravel, the car was not damaged and he was able to continue.

Lando Norris led the protocol with a lap time of 1:11.330, in the short lap at Zandvoort 16 riders finished within one second.

The battle in qualifying will be fierce, but on Saturday the weather forecast promises thunderstorms during the day.

Results of the second session

First part of free practice

Clearly. Dry. Air +20…21С, route +31…35С

The weather forecast for all three days of the Dutch weekend promised a high chance of rain, but the first practice took place on dry asphalt. On Friday the stands were already full, the fans stood up when Max Verstappen passed, but there were no orange flares.

Robert Schwartzman got behind the wheel of Carlos Sainz’s car at Ferrari for the first time this year as part of the weekend’s official session.

At the start of the session, the condition of the course in the coastal dunes due to the sand on the pavement left much to be desired. The riders worked with novelties and basic settings, going to Hard and Medium, gradually adding speed, and in the second half of the session they switched to Soft.

Tsunoda, Norris, Piastri, Zhou and Stroll didn’t make it on time for the first half hour. Lance returned to the pits because of the strange noise from the power plant – the mechanics took care of his car, and the Canadian did not leave.

There were some minor mistakes. Alonso cut into turn 12 on a gravel trap.

Red flags appeared in the 42nd minute – Niko Hulkenberg spun at the exit of Turn 13 and was thrown into the gravel. He only touched the barrier lightly, but the new front wing was damaged, of which the team has little.

The car was evacuated five minutes later, at the exit of the pit lane again lit green.

Max Verstappen took the lead with a lap time of 1:11.852.

Results of the first session