Practice 1 Report - Verstappen quickest in opening practice session

By Peter Habicht

Max Verstappen was quickest for Red Bull with a 1:11.852s lap in today’s opening free practice at the Dutch Grand Prix, followed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Perez was almost a half second slower than teammate Verstappen, followed by Williams’ Alex Albon, McLaren’s Lando Norris and their respective teammates, Logan Sargeant and Oscar Piastri.

Alphatauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten, followed by Mercedes’ George Russell and Ocon teammate Pierre Gasly, who was just over a second off the fastest lap set by Verstappen.

Tsunoda teammate Daniel Ricciardo was next fastest followed by the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was next quickest, with Bottas teammate Guanyu Zhou behind him.

Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg finished 18th fastest but ended the session early when he entered the banking of turn 14 with 19 minutes left and lost control, sending his car into the gravel and bringing out the red flag. Hamilton managed to catch his car in a moment of snap oversteer at the same place in the closing minutes of the session, where wind and a dusty circuit were thought to be contributing causes for both incidents.

Rookie Robert Shwartzman drove in the place of Carlos Sainz today as part of the sport’s ongoing engagement of new drivers, and finished 19th.

Lance Stroll failed to set a time after returning his Aston Martin to the garage with engine trouble.

Free practice two begins at 4pm.