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: Max Verstappen stops out on track in first practice at Dutch GP due to gearbox problem
Max Verstappen’s home Grand Prix weekend got off to a dreadful start as he was forced to stop out on track 10 minutes into first practice at Zandvoort.
The Championship leader, who has won the last three races including a domineering victory last week in Belgium, complained of a gearbox issue with smoke emerging from the back of his RB18.
Verstappen departed the car and walked back to the pit lane amid a stunned silence in the grandstands, with the session red-flagged.
The Dutchman was top of the standings when the session was stopped.
Verstappen stops out on track in first practice at Dutch GP due to gearbox problem
Verstappen stopped out on track just 10 minutes into FP1 of his home race complaining of a gearbox problem
F1 practice: Schumacher quick on softs
Mick Schumacher’s first lap on the soft tyres is a pacey one and brings him within touching distance of the leaders although he’s quickly pushed down the leaderboard by Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon.
F1 practice: ‘Hamilton is very slow'
Lewis Hamilton is still out on the hard tyres and is slowly putting in some laps for Mercedes.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen complains over Hamilton’s position on the track as he overtakes him at the first corner before Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc tells his team that ‘Hamilton is going very slow’ just ahead of him.
F1 practice: Sainz leads the way
Carlos Sainz leads the way after his quick lap but is closely followed by both McLarens. Norris is (+0.084) behind with Daniel Ricciardo just (+0.232) back.
On his next lap Ricciardo locks up and goes softly into the gravel.
F1 practice: Transmission issue for Verstappen
Max Verstappen’s problem is a transmission issue confirms Red Bull who told the driver to abandon the car as a precautionary measure.
There are no expected penalties for the championship leader.
F1 practice: Alonso switches to softs
Fernando Alonso is the first driver to switch onto the soft tyres and immediately flies up the leaderboard into second place behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.
The other drivers follow suit and Ferrari are given a boost as Carlos Sainz romps into first place with a 1:12.845.
F1 practice: Verstappen out of FP1
Not the start Max Verstappen was hoping for at his home Grand Prix.
F1 practice: Verstappen back in pits
Max Verstappen has made the walk back to the pit lane after his gear box issues. He’s in conversation with Red Bull’s Helmut Marko and the engineer’s over what went wrong with the cars.
It all looks quite tense.
The session restarts with 39 minutes to go.
F1 practice: Mercedes off the pace
With only 13 minutes of the practice session gone before Verstappen’s red flag it’s hard to judge the pace of Mercedes but both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were quite a way off the quickest times.
Hamilton (+2.675) and Russell (+1.645) were over a second and a half slower than Verstappen’s fastest lap time of 1:14.714.
There’s going to be two minutes before the session resumes and they can improve on that.
F1 practice: Red flag! 🛑
Verstappen looks to be out of the session. He’s abandoned the car and the session has been red flagged with 47 minutes to go. It does seem like a gear box issue for the Dutchman.
The replays sound awful. Lots of clunky, scratchy noises as the gears didn’t click into place.
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