F1 results: Leclerc fastest in Dutch GP practice on Friday

After George Russell’s Mercedes set the pace in FP1, heading a Mercedes 1-2, Ferrari rebounded to lock out the top two positions in FP2 as Leclerc clocked the fastest time of the day at 1m12.345s to pip team-mate Carlos Sainz by 0.004s.

Max Verstappen only managed the eighth-fastest time in FP2 after a gearbox problem ended his FP1 session prematurely.

Dutch Grand Prix FP1 results: Russell fastest from Hamilton

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	George Russell	Mercedes	29	1'12.455			211.612
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	28	1'12.695	0.240	0.240	210.914
3	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	30	1'12.845	0.390	0.150	210.479
4	Lando Norris	McLaren	32	1'12.929	0.474	0.084	210.237
5	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	31	1'13.077	0.622	0.148	209.811
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	30	1'13.127	0.672	0.050	209.668
7	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	30	1'13.416	0.961	0.289	208.842
8	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	31	1'13.633	1.178	0.217	208.227
9	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	33	1'13.963	1.508	0.330	207.298
10	Alex Albon	Williams	29	1'14.063	1.608	0.100	207.018
11	Mick Schumacher	Haas	29	1'14.163	1.708	0.100	206.739
12	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	30	1'14.257	1.802	0.094	206.477
13	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	31	1'14.405	1.950	0.148	206.066
14	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	28	1'14.474	2.019	0.069	205.875
15	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	28	1'14.500	2.045	0.026	205.804
16	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	18	1'14.534	2.079	0.034	205.710
17	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	31	1'14.630	2.175	0.096	205.445
18	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	22	1'14.695	2.240	0.065	205.266
19	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	7	1'14.714	2.259	0.019	205.214
20	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	33	1'15.122	2.667	0.408	204.099
View full results

What happened in Dutch GP Free Practice 1?

Verstappen caused a red flag in the early stages when his Red Bull ground to a halt with a gearbox problem that put him out of the session after just a handful of laps on hard compound tyres.

Fernando Alonso set the soft-tyred bar at 1m13.635s, soon topped by Lando Norris on 1m12.929s and then Sainz on 1m12.845s

Mercedes ran longer on hards early on, so the track grip had evolved further by the time they switched to softs. Russell went to the top of the times on 1m12.455s with 13 minutes to go, with Hamilton taking P2, 0.240s in arrears of his team-mate.

Sainz was third, ahead of the McLarens of Norris and Daniel Ricciardo (who took a trip through the gravel at Turn 11). Leclerc was sixth, ahead of Perez – who suffered a grassy off but continued.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Erik Junius

Dutch Grand Prix FP2 results: Leclerc fastest from Sainz

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	27	1'12.345			211.934
2	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	30	1'12.349	0.004	0.004	211.922
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	21	1'12.417	0.072	0.068	211.723
4	Lando Norris	McLaren	24	1'12.448	0.103	0.031	211.633
5	George Russell	Mercedes	27	1'12.655	0.310	0.207	211.030
6	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	28	1'12.746	0.401	0.091	210.766
7	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	25	1'12.848	0.503	0.102	210.471
8	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	22	1'13.042	0.697	0.194	209.912
9	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	27	1'13.305	0.960	0.263	209.158
10	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	10	1'13.362	1.017	0.057	208.996
11	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	19	1'13.419	1.074	0.057	208.834
12	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	23	1'13.493	1.148	0.074	208.623
13	Mick Schumacher	Haas	27	1'13.604	1.259	0.111	208.309
14	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	27	1'13.611	1.266	0.007	208.289
15	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	25	1'13.624	1.279	0.013	208.252
16	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	16	1'13.666	1.321	0.042	208.134
17	Alex Albon	Williams	26	1'13.837	1.492	0.171	207.651
18	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	27	1'14.167	1.822	0.330	206.728
19	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	25	1'14.282	1.937	0.115	206.408
20	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	24	1'14.797	2.452	0.515	204.986
View full results

What happened in Dutch GP Free Practice 2?

Verstappen employed his hitherto unused softs in the early going, setting the bar at 1m13.465s. That was 0.079s faster than Sainz on mediums.

Sainz then went faster on 1m13.412s, Leclerc getting within 0.025s, as Verstappen got mired in traffic on his second push lap.

Sainz switched to softs and lowered his P1 time to 1m12.349s, 0.068s clear of Hamilton, with Russell three tenths further back. Leclerc ran later, and pipped Sainz by 0.004s.

Hamilton was third ahead of Norris and Russell. Verstappen could only manage eighth, seven tenths off the pace.

Yuki Tsunoda caused a red flag with 12 minutes to go when he beached his AlphaTauri.

Marshals remove the car of Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT03, from the gravel

Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images