Formula One returned from its four-week summer break in familiar fashion, with McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri top of the timesheets in first practice for the Dutch Grand Prix on Friday. Norris led the way with 1 minute 10.
Formula One returned from its four-week summer break in familiar fashion, with McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri top of the timesheets in first practice for the Dutch Grand Prix on Friday.
Norris led the way with 1 minute 10.278 seconds on the 4.259 kilometres Zandvoort track close to the North Sea.
Championship leader Piastri was .292 of a second off the pace, and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin trailed by half a second in third, just ahead of his team-mate Fernando Alonso.
Local hero and defending world champion Max Verstappen was sixth for Red Bull, while the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton's were 14th and 15th, respectively, more than 1.6 seconds off the pace.
The session was briefly red-flagged when Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli crashed out and got stuck in the gravel, just after Hamilton and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda had spun. Verstappen also got stuck during start practice after the session.
Piastri leads the championship nine points from Norris, who has won three of the last four races. Verstappen is a distant third 97 points behind Piastri.
Second practice was scheduled for later Friday, with a strong possibility of rain. Final practice and qualifying are on Saturday, and the 15th of 24 season races on Sunday.
Category: General Sports
