The sun shines on the Zandvoort circuit at the start of the second Free Practice session. The wind continues to blow strongly, but not as much as in the morning. Track activity is expected to be much more intense, as evidenced by the first few minutes of the session: all cars are already on track. An odd situation for Oscar Piastri, who was forced to return to the pits to switch to a helmet with a different visor.
Max Verstappen immediately makes his presence felt, setting a 1:12.131, a full seven-tenths faster than second-place Lando Norris. The two Ferrari cars start the session in eighth and eleventh positions, with Carlos Sainz half a second faster than Charles Leclerc. Alexander Albon is very quick, immediately placing sixth with a time of 1:13.180 on white tires (unlike the others on yellow).
The tailwind on the main straight creates some difficulties for the drivers, particularly for Charles Leclerc, who requests a setup change. Lewis Hamilton closes in on Max Verstappen’s time, posting a 1:12.352. Meanwhile, as Nico Hulkenberg crashes into the wall at Turn 1, bad news comes from the Ferrari garage: Carlos Sainz’s car appears to have a serious technical issue.
Ferrari gets serious
The session resumes with the first drivers running on red tires. Lando Norris takes the fastest lap with a time of 1:10.961, quicker than Max Verstappen, who stops at 1:10.986. But then Oscar Piastri arrives, beating them both with a 1:10.763. Confirmation also comes from the Ferrari garage, revealing a problem with Carlos Sainz’s car, likely related to the transmission.
With half an hour to go, the Mercedes take the lead: George Russell tops the charts with a 1:10.702, while Lewis Hamilton claims third place, just 60 milliseconds behind his teammate. There’s a lot of work going on in the garages with just over twenty minutes left in the session. Many setup changes are still being requested for Charles Leclerc’s car, which is only ninth.
Race pace and other conclusions
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen begin their race pace simulations on yellow tires simultaneously. Max Verstappen’s initial times are quite high but improve in subsequent laps. McLaren performs very well, with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who is running on soft tires. The Woking team’s strategy differs, as does Mercedes’.
The sense is that all tire compounds could play a role in the remainder of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend. McLaren is the best-performing car on yellow tires, with Lando Norris emerging as a strong contender for the weekend. Mercedes and Red Bull are still close, with Sergio Perez appearing to struggle. Ferrari, on the other hand, is far off the pace of the MCL38.
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