Russell Tops Friday Practice At 2024 Dutch GP

Roundup of Friday Practice for 2024 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, Netherlands.

Mercedes’ George Russell finished fifth in FP1 topped by McLaren’s Lando Norris, but the Brit managed the fastest lap of the day in FP2 to top the latter session with Mercedes and McLaren closely matched.

Dutch hero and reigning three-time champion, Max Verstappen meanwhile was firmly in the mix, but is set for his toughest competition at his home event yet.

 

FP1

Gusty winds and rain caused by Storm Lilian left the circuit wet at the start of FP1 with Pierre Gasly first of seven drivers to venture out in the opening 15 minutes.

Leclerc eventually set the first timed lap of 1m 26.530, which he soon lowered by 0.419 seconds to 1m 26.111 on the wet tyres, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Russell by 0.185s at the halfway mark.

Drivers soon switched to the intermediate tyres despite Max Verstappen spinning at Turn 11, but it was Norris who headed the order on inters with 1m 20.392 just ahead of Russell.

Track conditions eventually dried up sufficiently for soft-tyre running as Norris, Oscar Piastri and Russell duelled over the fastest lap.

At the checkered flag, Norris emerged quickest with 1m 12.322 ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished fourth and 13th on the medium tyre compound unlike everyone else on the soft tyre, except Alpine’s Pierre Gasly whose quickest lap came on the intermediate tyre.

Sauber’s FP1 driver, Robert Shwartzman finished 16th as he took Valtteri Bottas’ seat for the session.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1m 12.322
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.201
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+ 0.684
4	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+ 0.752
5	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.820
6	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.837
7	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.908
8	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+ 1.241
9	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+ 1.275
10	Guanyu Zhou	Sauber	+ 1.643
11	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 1.829
12	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+ 1.957
13	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 1.984
14	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+ 2.096
15	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 2.145
16	Robert Shwartzman	Sauber	+ 2.336
17	Logan Sargeant	Williams	+ 3.283
18	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+ 3.474
19	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+ 3.909
20	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 9,714

 

FP2

Gasly was first out on track and set a benchmark time of 1m 15.103 in the third minute, which soon got beaten by several drivers as Verstappen topped the opening laps with 1m 12.131 on medium tyres.

Hamilton however displaced him in the 16th minute with 1m 11.633 but the red flags were out barely three minutes later, after Hulkenberg spun out at Tarzanbocht.

The session resumed in the 23rd minute with everyone converting to the soft-tyre Qualifying simulations, with Verstappen first back out and setting the pace on 1m 10.986.

Norris then displaced him by 0.025 but Piastri then went quickest with 1m 10.763, which was ultimately beaten by Russell who topped the session with 1m 10.702 in FP2 set in the 29th minute.

Hamilton finished third-fastest behind Russell and Piastri but ahead of Norris and Verstappen, with the top five split by just 0.284s whilst Sainz didn’t set a soft-tyre timed lap due to a gearbox failure.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	George Russell	Mercedes	1m 10.702
2	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.061
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+ 0.111
4	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.259
5	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.284
6	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 0.655
7	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+ 0.672
8	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+ 0.728
9	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.741
10	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.848
11	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.874
12	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+ 0.879
13	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+ 0.928
14	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 0.942
15	Logan Sargeant	Williams	+ 1.116
16	Guanyu Zhou	Sauber	+ 1.232
17	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+ 1.359
18	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	+ 1.504
19	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+ 2.406
20	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+ 2.594