Here is our full transcript of the second free practice session for the 2023 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix:
Welcome back to Zandvoort, we hope you are all refreshed for another hour of Practice. It’s still dry, so we should get some representative running ahead of Qualifying tomorrow. Practice One suggested the field is very close and we all (or most of us) hope that will continue in the upcoming session.
We are green for Practice Two! The Alfa Romeos, Williams and Aston Martins are straight out there at the front of the queue.
Lance Stroll, after sitting out a lot of practice one while a power unit issue was resolved, is back out on track and looking good so far. “Looking good on data,” he is told.
56 mins to go: A 1:12.750 is the benchmark time from Sergio Perez on the mediums. Then comes Ricciardo, Russell, Gasly and Charles Leclerc. The times are nearly a second down on this morning though.
53 mins to go: Wow! Max Verstappen was on a flying lap and comes up to a queue of cars at the penultimate corner. Nico Hulkenberg doesn’t get out of the way and if Verstappen braked a bit later, he would have hit the Haas driver. “Unbelievable!” the Red Bull driver reacts.
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Red flag: Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricicardo have crashed at Turn 4! Piastri simply loses the rear of the car in the middle of the cambered corner and Ricciardo goes straight into the wall, perhaps distracted by the McLaren driver. “I couldn’t see the McLaren,” says Ricciardo, who suggests he saw Piastri too late.
The track is green after the marshals clear Piastri and Ricciardo’s cars. Most drivers leave the pit lane on the soft tyres, so some Qualy sims are coming up.
34 mins to go: Williams continue to impress as Alex Albon slots into second behind Sergio Perez on the first soft tyre runs. Max Verstappen is in the pit lane as more drivers are about to cross the line…
32 mins to go: And now it’s Lando Norris who’s fastest ashe goes 0.308s ahead of Hamilton. Verstappen is about to start his flying lap. He’s out of sync, so will traffic be a problem again?
30 mins to go: “Only” second place for Max Verstappen as he’s 0.238s down on Norris. He has a snap of oversteer out of Turn 3 and appeared to drive on the more cautious side. Nevertheless, Mercedes and McLaren are genuinely in the fight. Let’s see what Ferrari have got up their sleeve.
24 mins to go: The tyres are holding up for a second lap and Max Verstappen gets within 0.023s of Norris. Albon also improves to third place and is only 0.269 behind the McLaren driver. What a weekend this could be for Williams. Nico Hulkenberg has been summoned to the stewards after the session for an “Alleged breach of Article 37.5 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations – Car 27 unnecessarily impeding Car 1 in turn 13 at 16:05”.
21 mins to go: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz did multiple laps on the soft tyres but cannot find any performance to get into the mix at the front. Carlos Sainz ran through the gravel at Turn 11 and is only 16th, while Charles Leclerc is 11th.
17 mins to go: After an eventful spell of Qualy sims, it’s time for some long runs so the teams can gather data to see which tyres work the best with heavy fuel over a stint. George Russell isn’t happy with Mercedes putting him and Lewis Hamilton out on the track at the same time: “You’ve put us both on top of each other here,” he says to the Mercedes garage.
8 mins to go: It’s a very mixed order in Practice Two which is just what we want to see. Yuki Tsunoda is in fifth after a great lap and Pierre Gasly is up there too in sixth. Throw in the Williams of Albon in third and Red Bull not exactly dominating, Qualifying could be very exciting – even in the dry. Just like Budapest, Norris and Hamilton are also in play to beat Verstappen over one lap.
3 mins to go: In less optimistic news for a competitive race, Verstappen is a couple tenths quicker on average over the rest of the field. Zandvoort is difficult to overtake at though, so qualifying high up the grid is still very important and any pace advantage in the race might not be able to be used fully.
Chequered flag: Carlos Sainz goes wide at the penultimate corner but carries on. Other than that, no on-track incidents to note in those last 10 minutes.
Practice Two: Top Ten
1) Norris – 1:11.330
2) Verstappen +0.023
3) Albon – +0.269
4) Hamilton – +0.308
5) Tsunoda – +0.390
6) Gasly – +0.436
7) Perez – +0.487
8) Stroll – +0.505
9) Bottas – +0.527
10) Alonso – +0.533
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