McLaren’s Lando Norris topped Friday Practice for the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
The Brit enjoyed a solid day of practice with a sixth-placed finish in FP1 but unexpectedly topped FP2 with the fastest lap time of the day, 1m 11.330 ahead of home hero, Max Verstappen who had topped FP1.
Williams’ Alex Albon meanwhile proved to be the biggest surprise across both sessions as he finished fifth in FP1, before managing to improve to third in FP2 in a positive performance for the British constructor.
Now, here is a full roundup of FP1 and FP2 for 2023 Dutch GP.
FP1
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was first of tseveral drivers who ventured straight onto the track with a mix of drivers opting for hard tyres, whilst others opted for a medium tyre opening stint.
Verstappen immediately set the pace on the hard tyre with 1m 15.393 in the fourth minute but was displaced by George Russell just two minutes later, but responded with 1m 14.360 to go fastest by 0.541 seconds from the Brit.
Russell’s Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton then displaced Verstappen two minutes later with 1m 13.954, but the two-time defending Dutch GP winner hit back to go 0.679s quicker and eventually lowered his benchmark to 1m 13.191 prior to the soft tyre runs.
Williams’ Logan Sargeant was the first to attempt a soft tyre run in the 28th minute and went fastest with 1m 12.814 but was displaced by Perez and Albon in the space of three minutes, with the latter pair split by just 0.009s as Perez sat top with 1m 12.439.
Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg – who has been retained for next season – however brought the red flags out in the 42nd minute after he lost rear upon entry to Tunr 13 and spun into the barriers.
The session resumed eight minutes later with Sargeant and Albon amongst first drivers back out, as everyone attempted to get a soft tyre flying lap in during the final ten minutes of FP1.
At the checkered flag, Verstappen finished the opening session of his home race as the fastest driver with 1m 11.8, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Hamilton who rounded out the top three.
Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, Guanyu Zhou and Robert Shwartzman were the only drivers to not set their fastest lap on a soft tyre, whilst Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll missed the session due to a power unit issue.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 11.852 |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.278 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.373 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.471 |
| 5 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.595 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.608 |
| 7 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 0.765 |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.806 |
| 9 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 0.897 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.950 |
| 11 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.961 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.043 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | + 1.138 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.470 |
| 15 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1.596 |
| 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.667 |
| 17 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 1.974 |
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 2.171 |
| 19 | Robert Shwartzman | Ferrari | + 2.951 |
| 20 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | No Time |
FP2
Having vacated his seat for Shwartzman in FP1, Sainz was first out on track but Russell soon set the pace with 1m 13.358 in the fourth minute, which was beaten by Perez who posted 1m 12.750 to go fastest, whilst Verstappen was impeded at Turn 13 by Hulknberg.
Perez found a further 0.106s on his next flier in the eighth minute but Verstappen eventually produced 1m 12.449 in the ninth minute to set the pace, as a mix of drivers ran the hard tyre whilst others opted for medium tyre in their opening stints.
The red flag however was deployed in the tenth minute after Piastri lost control through Turn 3 and ploughed into the barriers, which distracted Ricciardo as he arrived upon the corner and steered his AlphaTauri unintentionally into the barriers too.
During his incident, Ricciardo suffered ‘a break to a metacarpal on his left hand,’ which has forced him to withdraw from the remainder of the weekend, with Liam Lawson stepping in for his F1 debut.
The session resumed 13 minutes later with Verstappen sat top from Perez and Hamilton, as Sainz led everyone back out onto the track with many opting for a soft tyre run.
Perez subsequently became the first driver in the session to break the 1m 12s barrier as he posted 1m 11.946 in the 26th minute, which saw him head Albon who had improved to second just 0.001s behind the Mexican until Sargeant and Stroll displaced the pair a minute later.
Hamilton however found further time one minute later as he delivered 1m 11.638 to go quickest, only for Norris to unexpectedly go even faster with a session-topping 1m 11.330 just moments later.
Verstappen eventually split the British pair after he did his soft-tyre run out of sync, yet he fell shy of Norris by 0.023s, whilst Albon further demoted Hamilton to fourth-fastest with just 0.308s separating the top four.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 11.330 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.023 |
| 3 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.269 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.308 |
| 5 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 0.390 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.436 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.487 |
| 8 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.505 |
| 9 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 0.527 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.533 |
| 11 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.585 |
| 12 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 0.604 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.671 |
| 14 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.679 |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 0.744 |
| 16 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.763 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.074 |
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 1.363 |
| 19 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.571 |
| 20 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | + 1.766 |