The second practise session of the day will see Carlos Sainz back in his Ferrari after Robert Shwartzman’s earlier outing.
All the drivers rolled out at the beginning of the session, excepted for Kevin Magnussen and Max Verstappen. The first timed lap is put in by George Russell in 1:13.358s, improved by Sergio Perez shortly after.
Aston Martin’s engine issue on Lance Stroll’s car, which didn’t allow the Canadian driver to take part in the earlier practise session, appears to be solved as he slots in P2, 0.3s behind Perez.
Times are quickly improving as the Mercedes drivers, Piastri and Ricciardo slot in the top 5 just behind home hero Verstappen. Nico Hulkenberg slowed down at Turn 13 impeding the championship leader, who strongly brought up the issue in a team radio, calling for action to be taken. The accident was noted.
A red flag was issued ten minutes into the session as Oscar Piastri hits the wall at Turn 3, shortly after followed by Daniel Ricciardo. Immediately after the incident, the Australian AlphaTauri driver mentioned that his hand was hit and hurt in the hit.
The session restarted with 35 minutes to go and Perez goes fastest in 1:11.946s, with all the drivers now on soft tyres bar the Ferraris, in the last two spots of the timings and doing race simulations on mediums.
Williams shows very impressive form as Alex Albon slots in P2 behind Perez and Logan Sargeant in provisional P1. At the midway point in the session, when mot of the drivers have completed their first fast laps attempts, Lando Norris leads in 1:11.330s, followed by Verstappen and Albon.
Photo credit: McLaren Racing
The Dutch driver mentioned “a bad feeling” in medium speed corners, which in his opinion might be related to brake issues.
Ferrari is definitely struggling again after an already difficult session this morning. Carlos Sainz was unable to keep his car on track and ran wide into the gravel at Turn 12, whereas Charles Leclerc’s fast attempt on the softs puts him in P11. The Monegasque driver then returns to the pits to change the setup of his car and try to find some more speed.
After an early check at the medical centre for Daniel Ricciardo, the former McLaren driver was taken to the hospital for additional visits.
In the final 15 minutes of the session all the drivers focused on longer race simulations, not focusing on improving their lap times. Sainz ran wide again one last time before the end of the session at Turn 13.
Lando Norris is the fastest driver in Zandvoort this afternoon, ahead of championship leader Max Verstappen and a very fast Alex Albon for Williams. The top five features Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda, and the final points-scoring positions are held by Gasly, Perez, Stroll, Bottas and Alonso.
