George Russell has led Friday’s Free Practice 2 for the Dutch Grand Prix, followed by a close Oscar Piastri in second.
The conditions on track were much better than during the first outing, when it heavily rained. For this one, the weather was much drier and sunnier. However, gusts of winds made things complicated for the drivers, with Russell going through the gravel at Turn 8, and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen having scares at Turn 1 and Turn 7 respectively.
Nico Hulkenberg from Haas had the worst luck, as he lost the rear of his car under braking at Turn 1, crashing into the wall after sliding across the gravel, bringing out the red flag.
The session resumed without much delay, and Verstappen was the one setting the pace, followed by McLaren’s Lando Norris – both with the soft compound tires.
However, times kept improving and Oscar Piastri then claimed the lead, only to be quickly overtaken in the charts by Russell, with a time of 1:10.702s, just 0.061s faster than his Australian rival.
The third sport was claimed by seven-time world-champion Lewis Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso was the best driver of the midfield, with his Aston Martin placing him in P6, followed by RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen.
The session was not what Ferrari would have wanted, as Carlos Sainz sat out due to a gearbox problem while Charles Leclerc only achieved ninth place, and while it is an improvement from FP1, is not what the Maranello-based outfit likes to see. However, this is only practice and Saturday will tell a different story.
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