Norris Dutch GP FP2 – McLaren’s Lando Norris pipped championship leader Max Verstappen by 0.023 seconds to end the afternoon Dutch GP FP2 session on top of the classification as Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon rounded out the top three.
Norris set the benchmark of a 1:11.330 on the C3 red side-walled softer compounds and was a very narrow 0.023 seconds quicker than Red Bull’s Verstappen whilst Albon was a further 0.269 adrift in third.
Running began on both harder tyres as the Mercedes pairing emerged on top of the C2 yellow-marked medium Pirelli PZero rubber through the first tours around the Circuit Zandvoort – George Russell moving ahead of team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez pushed his way to P1 setting a 1:12.750 on his mediums, before Hamilton’s return to the top of the pile, as Verstappen’s opening flyer was impeded by Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg.
Perez knocked the Briton once again, reclaiming top spot with an effort 0.069 seconds faster than Hamilton’s 1:12.713 earlier benchmark.
Verstappen then posted a 1:12.449 on the mediums to move to P1 before the red flag at turn three as Australian pairing Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo suffered separate incidents at the same corner. Piastri lost the control of the rear of his MCL60 racer and it snapped into the wall at the top of the banked corner whilst Ricciardo followed him into the wall moments later.
The recovery of both their respective cars, along with the repairs to barriers lining the corner, costed over ten minutes of running. Ricciardo reported to the medical centre afterwards with concerns of his left wrist, suffering a jolt of the steering wheel of his AlphaTauri AT04 entry as the front suspension broke from impact.
When track action went back to green running, Perez put on a set of C3 softs and jumped to the top with a 1:11.946, and was followed by Williams Racing’s Albon – who set an effort a very narrow 0.001 seconds off the Mexican.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll then made up for lost time, having suffered a power-unit issue in the earlier practice session, and posted a lap-time good enough to go fastest as Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant momentarily appeared at the upper end of the classifications.
A rush of qualifying simulation efforts on the softer rubber changed the order further, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly moved in-front of Stroll before the Frenchman was bumped by Hamilton, who in-turn was knocked off top-spot by Norris with a 1:11.330.
Verstappen had the opportunity to move back ahead of the field but felt 0.238 short of Norris’s benchmark to end the opening 30 minutes of running. Albon then jumped up again, slotting in behind Verstappen.
The reigning two-time world champion set another effort but wound up a very close 0.023 seconds off of Norris, ending the quick-fire qualifying simulation runs ahead of the traditional long data gathering runs at the end of Free Practice 2.
These were conducted across Pirelli’s full range of tyres in preparation for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix, as the teams looked to understand the performance of all compounds around the Circuit Zandvoort.
No further improvements meant Norris remained the quickest on the time-sheets, whilst Verstappen and Albon completed the top three.
Hamilton finished the day in fourth, whilst AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda impressed to fifth and in-front of Alpine’s sixth-placed Gasly.
Perez came seventh in the order and a touch clear of Stroll, who suffered an off-track excursion at the start through the turn 11/12 gravel trap.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the top ten.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished FP2 outside the top ten in 11th place and ahead of Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant who was 12th and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who ended the day 13th.
Mercedes’ Russell placed 14th and in-front of Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu who took 15th whilst Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz returning to the cockpit of his SF-23 racer came 16th in the order.
Haas F1 Team duo Kevin Magnussen and Hulkenberg were 17th and 18th as both aforementioned Australian’s Piastri and Ricciardo brought up the rear for McLaren and AlphaTauri respectively.
You can see the full Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2023 Free Practice 2 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1217/netherlands/practice-2.html
#DutchGP FP1: @Max33Verstappen quickest ahead of @alo_oficial. #F1
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