Friday practice sessions report: Homeland Hero looks strong once again but what about others?
Red Bull looks strong for the first race of the season after summer break. Daniel Ricciardo's hand might have been injured in a crash at the early stages of FP2. Williams drivers had a great day showing strong pace in both FP1 and FP2.
FP1:
Max Verstappen topped the timesheet with 1:11:852 on a set of soft tires in the first practice of the Dutch Grand Prix, pleasing his home fans who came to support their favorite driver. His aim for this weekend is to win for the third consecutive time here in Zandvoort.
The Dutchman led Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in FP1 which was disrupted by a late red flag after Nico Hulkenberg crashed his Haas.
most of the session was straightforward with only a few drivers such as Alonso and Verstappen who went off in the first sector but Hulkenberg who re-signed recently with Haas for 2024 spun off into gravel. He managed to avoid serious damage to his car but damaged his front wing. Guenther Steiner revealed that the damaged front wing was the new wing that the team brought as an update and the team will discuss which wing spec to use for FP2 in the Briefing!
FP2: Not as straightforward as FP1!
Lando Norris edged out Max Verstappen to set the Fastest lap during Friday’s second practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix, which was red-flagged in the early stages following an unusual double crash involving teammate Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo.
About 10 minutes after the start of FP2, Oscar Piastri lost control of his car at the exit of Turn 2 and crashed into barriers. A few seconds after the shunt, Daniel Ricciardo who was on a hot lap, faced the McLaren car parked in the racing line, He had no other option except to crash into barriers. This was the early end of the session for both Aussies on the grid. Daniel reported his hands were injured due to him still holding the steering wheel upon impact.
he was taken to the hospital for further medical checks to make sure he was fit for the next sessions. He later left the hospital with a sling on his hand, in case if he can't compete in upcoming sessions later in the weekend, Liam Lawson or Nyck De Vries can replace him.
After the mess was cleared up, drivers made the switch to the soft compound tire and started the qualifying simulations. with the impressive Norris stepping forward to set the benchmark on a 1m 11.330s – a lap strong enough to keep P1 despite two efforts from home favourite Verstappen.
Alex Albon was flying today in his Williams, finishing a couple of tenths further back in p3, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly ensuring that six different teams filled the top six positions.