Norris tops McLaren 1-2 in FP1 as Antonelli causes red flag

McLaren driver Lando Norris edged team-mate Oscar Piastri to lead Friday’s first free practice at Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix.

Following several heatwaves that scorched Europe’s summer, the second leg of the season got underway in cool conditions in the Netherlands

There was little time to waste at the start of the one-hour session as all 20 drivers sampled the windy conditions at Zandvoort’s beachside circuit, with championship leader Piastri going top ahead of home hero and triple Dutch GP winner Max Verstappen and Norris, before Verstappen improved to lead the early running.

Yellow flags came out after 11 minutes for two separate off-track excursions, with Yuki Tsunoda spinning at Turn 12 and Andrea Kimi Antonelli understeering off at Turn 9.

Tsunoda managed to resume his session in the Red Bull, but Antonelli’s Mercedes was stuck in the gravel, bringing out the red flag.

The session resumed eight minutes later, marked by another gravel trip – this time for Williams man Carlos Sainz at the same spot of Tsunoda’s spin.

The pace was upped considerably by the pre-event favourites at McLaren, with Norris going top with a 1m10.278s, followed by Piastri’s 1m10.700s as both took on Pirelli’s soft compound. The Australian’s next effort closed the gap to less than three tenths courtesy of a 1m10.570s.

There was no real reply from either Verstappen or other front running teams as they completed widely diverging run plans.

Fernando Alonso made a surprise appearance in the top three as Aston Martin aim to build on a strong Hungary weekend before the summer break, with Williams’ Alex Albon also circulating in the top five until late.

The traditional longer fuel runs on mediums dominated the second part of the session, prompting little change at the top of the leaderboard.

Lance Stroll was one of the few drivers to switch back to soft-tyre hot lapping towards the end of the session, the Canadian frustrated by an impeding Tsunoda before a second attempt yielded third.

That bumped team-mate Alonso down to fourth ahead of Albon, with Verstappen – who sampled a new front wing option to help dial out understeer – almost a second behind Norris in fifth.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

George Russell escaped a trip through the gravel at Turn 1’s Tarzan corner and took seventh, followed by Sainz and Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto. Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10 in the Alpine ahead of both Racing Bulls cars.

Ferrari completed a low-key session with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton down in 14th and 15th respectively, nearly two seconds off the McLarens, with Antonelli’s early exit consigning him to the bottom of the timesheets.

After the chequered flag Verstappen went off the road on his outlap, parking his Red Bull on the outside of Turn 1. After conducting a practice start, it appeared as though the world champion locked up his tyres on entry and slid off into the gravel.

Second free practice at Zandvoort resumes at 3pm BST.

F1 Dutch GP results – FP1