Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren MCL60. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 14, Dutch Grand Prix, Friday 25th August 2023. Zandvoort, Netherlands.
McLaren’s Lando Norris set the pace during second practice for Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix, as team-mate Oscar Piastri and AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo both crashed.
Norris set a time of 1:11.330s to continue McLaren’s encouraging pre-summer form and finish Friday atop the classification.
Norris’ time was sufficient to edge local favourite Max Verstappen by just 0.023s.
Verstappen, who set the pace in the opening session, had a moment exiting Turn 3 and also complained of his RB19 “doing some weird things” during medium-speed corners.
Alex Albon pulled a surprise as he finished third-fastest, two-tenths of a second behind Norris, despite expecting Williams to struggle for performance at Zandvoort.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was fourth while Yuki Tsunoda put AlphaTauri fifth overall on one of his strongest Fridays of the year so far.
While pacesetter Norris and fifth-placed Tsunoda thrived, their respective team-mates had an early end to the session.
Piastri – who has never previously raced at Zandvoort – went off and crashed through the banked Turn 3 just 10 minutes into the session.
Ricciardo, on a hot lap behind Piastri, understeered into the barriers a few metres a few metres before his compatriot after appearing to go off in avoidance.
The session was halted while the damaged McLaren MCL60 and AlphaTauri AT04 were removed and they took no further part in proceedings.
Ricciardo also intimated in the aftermath of the accident that he injured his hand in the impact and is set to visit a local hospital for checks.
Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing RB19. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 14, Dutch Grand Prix, Friday 25th August 2023. Zandvoort, Netherlands.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly finished in sixth position while Sergio Perez was a low-key seventh for Red Bull at a circuit where he has previously struggled for single-lap performance.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso bookended Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas at the foot of the top 10.
Ferrari had a relatively subdued day as Charles Leclerc was only 11th while Carlos Sainz – who sat out the opening session for tester Robert Shwartzman to fulfil one of two rookie sessions – was 16th, and also had an off-track excursion through the penultimate corner.
However Sainz was within eight-tenths of a second of pacesetter Norris during a relatively competitive session at a short circuit.
Saturday’s final practice session is scheduled for 11:30 local time
Keyword: Norris heads Verstappen, Piastri and Ricciardo shunt