Friday finished the same way it started. Lando Norris on top at Zandvoort.
Norris keeps control
The Brit went quickest again, this time with a 1:09.890 on soft tyres. Fernando Alonso came closest, just 0.087s down, while Oscar Piastri followed another 0.002s back. Three cars split by less than a tenth.
It was tight, but Norris never looked rattled. The gusts that unsettled others hardly seemed to touch him. For Piastri, a wide moment at Turn 9 showed the margins he’s playing with.
Stroll crashes, Albon off too
Aston Martin’s strong FP1 pace turned sour when Lance Stroll hit the Turn 3 barriers hard. He climbed out fine, but his car was badly damaged. Alonso carried the flag with second place, keeping them in the mix.
Alex Albon added to the red-flag count with a trip into the Turn 1 gravel. The Williams beached, the front wing broken, and his afternoon was done.
Pit lane drama and lost running
It wasn’t all on track. Piastri briefly pulled into the wrong McLaren pit box, then swung across into George Russell’s path as he corrected. Russell’s radio summed up his mood. Stewards noted the incident.
The interruptions meant no one got proper long runs in. Isack Hadjar stopped with a power loss. Kimi Antonelli kicked up dirt but kept it pointing straight. The rookies, already short of laps after the break, lost valuable mileage.
Mercedes, Ferrari and the rest
Russell ended up fourth, Hamilton sixth despite another spin at Turn 9 and flat-spotting another set of tyres. Verstappen finished fifth at home, six tenths off Norris’ marker.
Ferrari steadied after a rough FP1, Leclerc eighth, Hamilton’s Mercedes splitting the pair in sixth. Franco Colapinto impressed with P9, Hülkenberg tenth, while the rest of the midfield filtered down with Bearman 11th, Antonelli 12th, and Bortoleto 13th.
Gasly was two seconds off in 19th, with Hadjar failing to register a proper lap.
Full FP2 classification
- Lando Norris – 1:09.890
- Fernando Alonso +0.087s
- Oscar Piastri +0.089s
- George Russell +0.384s
- Max Verstappen +0.588s
- Lewis Hamilton +0.848s
- Yuki Tsunoda +0.905s
- Charles Leclerc +0.944s
- Franco Colapinto +1.067s
- Nico Hülkenberg +1.190s
- Oliver Bearman +1.223s
- Kimi Antonelli +1.295s
- Gabriel Bortoleto +1.430s
- Liam Lawson +1.449s
- Esteban Ocon +1.471s
- Carlos Sainz +1.792s
- Alex Albon +1.866s
- Lance Stroll +2.085s
- Pierre Gasly +2.232s
- Isack Hadjar – no time
What next
McLaren end Friday one-two. Alonso shows Aston Martin can fight. Verstappen has work to do in front of the home crowd. Ferrari steadied, Mercedes steady, the rookies learning the hard way.
Qualifying looms with dry skies forecast, but at Zandvoort nothing is guaranteed. Norris has the edge, but the story of the weekend is still wide open.
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