Lando Norris secured the leading time in an incident-strewn second practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri facing a steward investigation.
Why it matters
Norris’s dominant performance across both Friday sessions at Zandvoort signals a strong weekend for McLaren. However, the pit lane incident involving Oscar Piastri and George Russell adds an element of controversy, potentially impacting Piastri’s weekend or future.
The big picture
The second practice session was heavily disrupted by two red flags and a virtual safety car, leading to reduced track time and a scramble for laps before approaching rain. Despite the chaos, Norris consistently showed pace, replicating his Hungarian GP FP1/FP2 double-top.
The details
- Norris's Pace: Lando Norris set the fastest time of the day with a 1:09.890s, narrowly ahead of Fernando Alonso (+0.087s) and Oscar Piastri (+0.089s).
- Red Flags: The session saw two significant interruptions:
- Lance Stroll crashed heavily into the barriers at the banked turn after 11 minutes.
- Alex Albon beached his car in the gravel at Turn 1 after 38 minutes.
- Virtual Safety Car: Isack Hadjar stopped on track at Turn 8, triggering a VSC.
- Piastri-Russell Incident: Following Albon’s red flag, Piastri slowed to pull into his pit box but then abruptly turned back into the pit lane, having approached the wrong area. George Russell, behind him, was forced to swerve and appeared to clip the McLaren. Stewards are investigating the incident.
- Other notable performances:
- George Russell was fourth fastest (+0.384s).
- Max Verstappen finished fifth (+0.588s).
- Lewis Hamilton (who had an earlier spin) was sixth, with Charles Leclerc eighth.
- Yuki Tsunoda, Franco Colapinto, and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10.
- Pierre Gasly was surprisingly slowest, over two seconds off the pace.
What's next
The steward investigation into Oscar Piastri’s pit lane incident will be a key focus. Teams will also be closely monitoring the weather forecast, with rain expected to play a role in Saturday’s qualifying session, where Norris will aim to convert his practice pace into a strong grid position.