Russell & Leclerc top Dutch Grand Prix Friday practice sessions

LECLERC TOPS FERRARI 1-2 AT ZANDVOORT FP2 AS RED BULL RACING STRUGGLE

Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet in the second practice session for this weekend’s 2002 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, beating team-mate Carlos Sainz by just 0.004s as Ferrari completed a 1-2 finish. Championship-leading Red Bull struggled for pace, however, with Drivers’ title leader Max Verstappen finishing eighth while team-mate Sergio Pérez was classified 12th.

The start of the session was delayed by 15 minutes due to two red flag periods during qualifying for the Formula 2 race and in the early stages of the session Sainz led the way with a lap of 1:13.544. Verstappen soon emerged, however, and with soft tyres on board he stole P1 with a lap of 1:13.465.

Sainz then retook first place with a lap of 1:13.412 and he was then backed up by Leclerc who slotted into second place before the field returned to the pit lane to plot their qualifying simulations.

Sainz was the first of the frontrunners to head out on soft tyres and on the quicker tyre the Ferrari driver improved to a time of 1:12.349 to cement himself into P1. Verstappen then took to the track on the red-banded tyres but his effort was well off the pace and he crossed the line almost seven tenths of a second off the Spaniard.

Mercedes’ George Russell stole into second place soon after but his time was then beaten by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Hamilton in the second Mercedes.

Leclerc then appeared at the halfway mark and the Monegasque driver vaulted to first place ahead of Sainz, though only just. Leclerc’s time of 1:12.345 was 0.004s ahead of his team-mate’s.

Behind Hamilton, Norris held onto fourth place ahead of Russell, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll sixth ahead of the Alpine of Fernando Alonso. Verstappen slumped to eighth place at the flag, while Esteban Ocon was ninth in the other Alpine, though three tenths behind the Dutchman. Ocon was the last man inside a second of Leclerc.

Tenth place went to Daniel Ricciardo in the second McLaren, with AlphaTauri’s 11th on a time of 1:13.419. That put the Japanese driver 0.075s ahead of Sergio Pérez who after finishing a a second off the pace in the morning ended up 1.148s off in the afternoon.

Tsunoda’s run to 11th wasn’t without incident. In the final 15 minutes of the session the Japanese driver slid into the gravel at Turn 10, an off that brought out the red flags and caused a seven-minute delay.

2022 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:12.345 27 211.934
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:12.349 0.004 30 211.922
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:12.417 0.072 21 211.723
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:12.448 0.103 24 211.633
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:12.655 0.310 27 211.030
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.746 0.401 28 210.766
7 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:12.848 0.503 25 210.471
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:13.042 0.697 22 209.912
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:13.305 0.960 27 209.158
10 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:13.362 1.017 10 208.996
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Red Bull 1:13.419 1.074 19 208.834
12 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:13.493 1.148 23 208.623
13 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:13.604 1.259 27 208.309
14 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:13.611 1.266 27 208.289
15 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:13.624 1.279 25 208.252
16 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Red Bull 1:13.666 1.321 16 208.134
17 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:13.837 1.492 26 207.651
18 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:14.167 1.822 27 206.728
19 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:14.282 1.937 25 206.408
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:14.797 2.452 24 204.986

RUSSELL HEADS MERCEDES 1-2 IN FIRST PRACTICE AT ZANDVOORT AS VERSTAPPEN HITS TROUBLE

George Russell led a Mercedes 1-2 in first practice for the 2022 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton by more than two tenths of a second. There was trouble for home favourite Max Verstappen, however, with the Red Bull Racing driver restricted to just seven laps after encountering mechanical woes at Zandvoort.

At the start of the session, the early pace was set by Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, the Spanish driver using Medium compound Pirelli tyres to post a lap of 1:17.662. Verstappen soon beat that time, however, and he went four tenths of a second quicker on the more durable Hard tyre. 

The Dutchman was soon out of the session, however. With 10 minutes on the clock and not long after his table-topping lap the World Championship leader ground to a halt at the exit of Turn 4. The red flags were shown and the session was halted for 10 minutes. 

When running resumed it was Alonso who jumped to top spot on the red walled tyres wit5h a lap of 1:13.635. McLaren’s Lando Norris then moved ahead with a lap of 1:12.929 before Ferrari’s Carlos vaulted to P1 with a lap of 1:12.845.

Late in the session the Mercedes drivers emerged on fresh soft tyres to take advantage of the significant track evolution and Russell crossed the line in 1m12.455 to take top spot, a position he’d hold to the flag. Hamilton ended the session with a best time of 1:12.695 to sit 0.240s off his team-mate while Sainz claimed third place with his lap of 1:12.845, 0.390 off Russell. 

Norris took fourth for McLaren a little under a tenth of a second ahead of McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. Charles Leclerc finished in sixth place 0.672 off the lead and almost three tenths behind Ferrari team-mate Sainz. 

Sergio Pérez was seventh in the second Red Bull ahead of Alonso who finished ahead of Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon and the top 10 order was rounded out by Williams’ Alex Albon.
 

2022 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:12.455 29 211.612
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:12.695 0.240 28 210.914
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:12.845 0.390 30 210.479
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:12.929 0.474 32 210.237
5 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:13.077 0.622 31 209.811
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:13.127 0.672 30 209.668
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:13.416 0.961 30 208.842
8 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:13.633 1.178 31 208.227
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:13.963 1.508 33 207.298
10 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:14.063 1.608 29 207.018
11 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:14.163 1.708 29 206.739
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:14.257 1.802 30 206.477
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:14.405 1.950 31 206.066
14 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Red Bull 1:14.474 2.019 28 205.875
15 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:14.500 2.045 28 205.804
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:14.534 2.079 18 205.710
17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Red Bull 1:14.630 2.175 31 205.445
18 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:14.695 2.240 22 205.266
19 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:14.714 2.259 7 205.214
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:15.122 2.667 33 204.099