#DutchGP FP2: @GeorgeRussell63 quickest ahead of @OscarPiastri, @LewisHamilton. #F1

Russell Dutch GP FP2 – Mercedes’ George Russell was fastest in a dry FP2 session at the Dutch GP ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and his team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton who completed the top three as home favourite Max Verstappen was down in fifth.

Russell posted the session-topping benchmark of a 1:10.702 on the C3 red side-walled softer compounds and was a narrow 0.061 seconds quicker than Piastri as Hamilton was a further 0.111 adrift of his team-mate in third.

From the wet and blustery conditions that kicked off FP1, clear blue skies greeted the field for the day’s second hour-long practice session at Zandvoort, where Alpine’s Pierre Gasly lead the pack out of the pits.

All the initial running was on the C2 mediums and C1 hards, with Verstappen’s opening 1:12.131 on the yellow-marked C2’s remaining as the benchmark for the opening 15 minutes of proceedings, during which many drivers suffered lock-ups at Tarzan where a strong tailwind was causing havoc.

Shortly after he pitted from a second stint on a new set of the medium rubber following a dramatic excursion at Scheivlak, Hamilton charged ahead on a 1:11.833.

The session was then red flagged after MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg spun off backwards at Tarzan – the rear wheels of his Ferrari-powered VF-24 racer locked suddenly as he braked and sent the German into an accident that damaged the right-hand side of the car.

The wreckage was removed during the six-minute suspension, after which Verstappen re-emerged for an early qualifying simulation stint on the C3 softs.

The Dutchman returned to the top of the pile setting a 1:10.986 despite a tour where the home hero’s RB20 racer looked skittish throughout, but with McLaren’s Lando Norris gone for a quick switch to the softer rubber for the restart, the Briton then move ahead on a 1:10.961.

A few moments later, Piastri relegated his team-mate to second posting a 1:10.763 before Russell took over top spot with a 1:10.702 – despite the F1 W15 entry running hard over the exit kerbs at the last corner.

Hamilton then placed himself in third and 0.111 off his time-topping Mercedes team-mate, before Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc whose qualifying simulation run on the softs was completed at the session midway point, which was only good enough for ninth place behind Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who ended up behind Verstappen once the Dutchman was demoted back.

RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen was seventh and eighth respectively as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Williams’ Alexander Albon rounded out the top ten.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll finished the day outside the top ten in 11^th place and in-front of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez who took 12^th and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who came 13^th in the order.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Williams’ Logan Sargeant followed in 14^th and 15^th respectively.

Sauber duo Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas ended Free Practice 2 in 16^th and 18^th respectively as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon sandwiched in-between the two C44 entries.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was forced to end the session early in a low-19^th due to a gearbox issue as the aforementioned Hulkenberg brought up the rear in his VF-24.

The field after the qualifying simulation runs fastly switched to long data gathering runs, with the weather forecast for the rest of the weekend mixed on Saturday and dry for Grand Prix Sunday – the wind in particular likely to be less stronger on race day – thus placing a major focus on understanding tyre degradation even more than typically is the case during the second practice session.

Two incidents of unsafe releases in the pit-lane are currently under investigation by the stewards – involving Zhou and Ricciardo, along with Albon and Stroll.

You can see the full Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024 Free Practice 2 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/races/1243/netherlands/practice/2

#DutchGP FP1: @LandoNorris pips @Max33Verstappen by 0.201s. #F1

#F1 @Heineken #DutchGP 2024 Preview. #Formula1 #DutchGrandPrix

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