F1 practice LIVE: Charles Leclerc fastest in FP2 as Oscar Piastri signs for McLaren
Follow all the reaction to second practice this afternoon at the Dutch Grand Prix after Mercedes went fastest in FP1
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Your support makes all the difference.The Formula 1 season continues after its return in Belgium last week with this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, with Max Verstappen holding a healthy 93-point lead in the World Championship with eight races to go.
The Red Bull star stormed to victory at Spa-Francorchamps at the weekend, winning by a margin of 18 seconds to team-mate Sergio Perez despite starting in P14 due to an engine penalty; Carlos Sainz took the other podium spot as he held off George Russell late on, while Charles Leclerc finished sixth.
Lewis Hamilton retired for the first time this season following a first-lap collision with the Alpine of Fernando Alonso; the Mercedes star admitted responsibility for the incident afterwards and despite Alonso’s “idiot” comment over team radio, the former McLaren duo have since buried the hatchet.
This weekend sees F1 roll into Zandvoort, which returned to the calendar last year when Verstappen comfortably won his home Grand Prix in front of his adoring home fans amid a fever-pitch atmosphere on the Dutch coast. The Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton earned Mercedes a one-two in first practice with Sainz third and Verstappen stopping after just 10 minutes due to a transmission issue. Second practice saw Leclerc lead a Ferrari one-two ahead of Sainz, with Hamilton third and Verstappen down in eighth with the news of Oscar Piastri signing for McLaren the main talking point from Friday.
Follow all the action here with The Independent:
F1 practice: Red flag! 🛑
One of the AlphaTauri’s has run off the track at turn 10. It looks like Yuki Tsunoda.
It is. He’s flown into the gravel and beached the car. The red flag comes out with 10 minutes of the session left to go.
F1 practice: Ricciardo’s car is leaking
Daniel Ricciardo’s practice is over after a leak on his McLaren. There’s a lot of mechanics huddled around his ca trying to find a solution but they’ve been unable to identify where the leak is.
F1 practice: Ferrari lead the way
15 minutes to go. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are currently sat one-two for Ferrari as FP2 enters it’s final quarter of an hour.
Max Verstappen is down in P8 over half a second slower than Leclerc.
F1 practice: Issues for Gasly
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly has only completed five laps during this session after having an issue with something underneath his seat.
Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren is also undergoing intense work in the garage. This hasn’t been the best session for the Australian.
F1 practice: Perez struggling
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez isn’t having the best of times on the Zandvoort circuit today. He’s +1.148 away from the top of the leaderboard.
He’s has been running on medium tyres but doesn’t seem to have built up any kind of momentum.
F1 practice: Norris up to fourth
It’s been a pretty tame practice session for McLaren after impressing earlier today but Lando Norris has had enough of that. He splits both Mercedes with a time that’s +0.103 second away from the leader.
That leader? Charles Leclerc. He’s just set a time of 1:12.345 which is -0.004 quicker than Carlos Sainz.
F1 practice: Russell and Alonso move up
With 34 minutes left to go in the session there are quite a few changes in the leaderboard. George Russell has moved up to P2 +0.306 seconds behind Sainz.
Fernando Alonso is also quick and sits just +0.499 behind the leader.
A rapid 1:12.417 from Lewis Hamilton’s most recent lap shoots him above both drivers but Sainz is still the quickest in FP2.
F1 practice: Sainz goes quicker
Carlos Sainz has come out of the pits on a set of soft tyres and has already improved on his previous quickest time. He’s set a time of 1:12.349.
Verstappen is more than half a second back and Haas’ Mick Schumacher is up to fourth just +1.255 behind the Ferrari.
F1 practice: Seeing orange
Some of the fans have managed to smuggle flares into the circuit and set them off when Max Verstappen whizzed by. The atmosphere here must be incredible for the Dutchman.
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