FP2: Norris beats Alonso to top second practice at Zandvoort

McLaren’s Lando Norris continued where he left off in the opening practice, setting the benchmark in the second one-hour session at the Dutch Grand Prix. F1Technical’s senior writer Balazs Szabo reports from the Zandvoort circuit.

Having set the benchmark in the opening practice session, Lando Norris ended up quickest in the second one-hour practice at Zandvoort with a time of 1m09.890s.

However, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was only 0.087s slower, while Oscar Piastri took third less than a tenth behind his team-mate.

George Russell finished fourth from Max Verstappen, who was almost sixth tenths away from Norris, completing a tough opening day in front of his home crowd.

Ferrari endured a hugely disappointing day, with the Scuderia having struggled for grip through the long-radius, medium-speed corners. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc took 6th and 8th, respectively, with both of them having been almost a second slower than Norris.

Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda slotted in between the two Ferraris, while , Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Sauber’s NicoHulkenberg completed the top 10.

Ollie Bearman finished 11th ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was eager to make up for lost time after crashing early on in FP1.

Gabriel Bortoleto led Liam Lawson, Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard’s team-mate Alex Albon went off at Turn 1 and after damaging his front wing against the barrier, the Williams became beached in the gravel.

Lance Stroll finished third in FP1, but his afternoon session ended after just ten minutes as he suffered a heavy crash at the banked Turn 3, with theincident having brought out the red flag.