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Commentary

Live: F1 Dutch GP commentary and updates - FP1 & FP2

Follow along for all Formula 1 updates as the Friday sessions get underway ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

As home favourite Max Verstappen gets ever closer to a second F1 championship crown, the Dutch fans are expected to be out in full force to support his endeavours.

Verstappen won the last race, at Spa-Francorchamps, at an absolute canter despite starting 14th on the grid. Team-mate Sergio Perez completed the Red Bull rout in Belgium with second place, as Carlos Sainz rescued a third place for Ferrari on a day where it struggled.

F1's trip to Zandvoort will be its second in a row after the seaside circuit was reinstated to the calendar last year, having been dropped at the end of 1985. Verstappen won last year's race.

By: Jake Boxall-Legge, James Newbold, Haydn Cobb

Summary

Summary

  • Leclerc leads Ferrari 1-2 in F1 Dutch GP second practice, Verstappen only eighth for Red Bull
  • F1's Contract Recognition Board rules in favour of Piastri's move to McLaren from 2023
  • Russell topped FP1 ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton

Leaderboard

  1. Leclerc, Ferrari
  2. Sainz, Ferrari
  3. Hamilton, Mercedes
  4. Norris, McLaren
  5. Russell, Mercedes
  6. Stroll, Aston Martin
  7. Alonso, Alpine
  8. Verstappen, Red Bull
  9. Ocon, Alpine
  10. Ricciardo, McLaren
Status: Stopped
But the fun isn't over yet, oh no, with final practice at Zandvoort kicking off the F1 action tomorrow at 11am BST. Then it is Dutch GP qualifying from 2pm BST. Until then, have a wonderful rest of your Friday. Go well!
With that, we'll wrap up this live text coverage on Friday practice at the Dutch GP. It's been another busy one, perhaps more so off track than on it given the Piastri news that broke just before FP2.
Practice starts are the final order of the day, giving the hoards of fans a great opportunity to snap their favourites while sat on the main straight.
But the bragging rights go to Leclerc and Ferrari, as he leads a 1-2 from team-mate Sainz to end the Friday action. Hamilton takes third ahead of Norris, Russell and Stroll.
The chequered flag is out for the end of second practice, with Verstappen the first to take the flag. How the locals will be hoping for the same scenario on Sunday.
 
18 drivers on track - just Tsunoda (crashed) and Ricciardo (mechanical) missing to notch up these late laps in the Zandvoort sunshine. The circuit looks a picture, it has to be said.
The stoppage has rather wrecked the high fuel runs and forthcoming analysis. More on that later, as the track returns to green!
The session will resume with four minutes of FP2 to go. What fun.
The track marshals are on the scene at Turn 10 to rescue Tsunoda's car with a tractor, so we should get FP2 back underway before time runs out.

The Japanese driver is all OK and hops out of the car, which is covered in gravel after his attempts to back out of the stone-filled runoff before getting properly stuck.

Red flag - Tsunoda has beached his car in an off!

Here's the latest reaction to Piastri's confirmation on joining McLaren after the CRB decision. 

 
Ricciardo is the latest driver to spend more time than he'd want in the garage as the TV pictures spot a leak coming from the left sidepod of his McLaren.
And it doesn't look like the outright lap times will change a great deal with the race simulation runs starting with just under 20 minutes of FP2 to go. Verstappen, on used softs, gets held up through the chicane and has to back out of a lap.
Both Red Bulls are out of position to where you'd expect to see them on the times, with Verstappen eighth and Perez 12th. Certainly not the best of days for the world championship leaders so far.
More trouble for Verstappen? He's in the garage with a lot of work being undertaken to his car by his Red Bull mechanics.
Leclerc, who started his soft tyre run much later than the rest, goes fastest of all with a 1m12.345s - 0.004s quicker than Sainz's earlier leading effort.
Norris splits the Mercedes to take third place on the times, 0.099s off Sainz's leading effort.
Hamilton becomes Sainz's nearest challenger as he pops into second place just 0.068s off the Spaniard. That puts Mercedes 2-3, after a 1-2 in first practice.
Gasly is belatedly on track for the first time in FP2, having missed the first half of the session with a technical issue with his AlphaTauri.
Russell slots into second place, 0.306s off Sainz, but ahead of Alonso and Stroll. Plenty of soft tyre runs currently ongoing, so the order will chop and change in the next few minutes.
Verstappen's first soft tyre effort puts him second with a 1m13.042s but 0.693s off of Sainz.
Sainz improves on his leading time on the soft tyres, with a 1m12.349s, to go a full second clear at the top.
 
Most of the drivers have completed their opening runs in this session, with just Albon on track at present, while Gasly has popped into the back of the AlphaTauri garage and is strapping his helmet on. That's a good sign in our book.
And now it is a Ferrari 1-2, with Leclerc shuffling his way up to second place, 0.025s off his team-mate.
Sainz takes over at the top with a 1m13.412s to put Verstappen into a Ferrari sandwhich in the timesheet.
Still no sign of Gasly in this session, he's the only driver yet to nip out in FP2. Maybe he's busy with some paperwork with a certain team who now needs a new driver for 2023...
Alonso gets baulked on his lap by a slow Russell ahead of him. Nothing too serious, but it forces the Alpine driver to back out of his lap.
Verstappen's opening timed lap puts him top of the pile, albeit on the softs with most others on mediums, with a 1m13.465s.
"Radio's not working again," reports Hamilton over team radio, but he gets a reply from Peter Bonnington to confirm the team can hear him. 1-2, 1-2, is this thing on?
Verstappen, equipped with a fresh gearbox and a working Red Bull again, heads down pitlane to start his session. He notched up just seven laps in opening practice, so he'll be playing catch up to the rest the afternoon.
Anyway, here we go for FP2. Lots of early takers, with the pack led out by Stroll.
Yet more schedule changes - as the F1 drivers' briefing will now start at 6:45pm local time. Not that it'll impact second practice, but it means the drivers will have to delay their Friday night plans by a little.
Aside from the Alpine statement there's no official word from the team bosses yet on the Piastri decision, as the team prepares to get to work for FP2. Race control confirms the session will start at 16:15 local time.
 
A quick update on the on-track action: The start time of FP2 will be announced at 16:15 local time - so in 11 minutes.
The latest from Alpine: "We consider the matter closed on our side and will announce our full 2023 driver line-up in due course. Our immediate focus is the Dutch GP and securing points in our fight for fourth in the constructors’ championship."

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