Charles Leclerc topped the second Formula 1 practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix, with the top four cars within 0.103s at Zandvoort. The start of FP2 was briefly delayed due to the long-running Formula 2 qualifying session, with Max Verstappen among those to venture out early after losing most of FP1 after his gearbox cried enough. World Champion Verstappen clocked a 1m:13.465s on Soft tyres to go P1 in the early stages, before the teams started their qualifying simulation runs. Carlos Sainz Jr sat top of the standings on a 1m:12.349s lap with just Leclerc left to put his time in on the Soft Pirelli rubber. The Monegasque, who trails Verstappen by 98 points in the standings clocked in a 1m:12.345s to pip Sainz by 0.004s to make it a Ferrari one-two. Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris were third and fourth, 0.072s and 0.103s behind the pace set by the Ferrari of Leclerc.
Red Bull struggle at Zandvoort
Verstappen ended the session in eighth place, behind George Russell, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, but was 0.697s adrift of Leclerc's benchmark. The Red Bull, which was expected to be not as dominant as it was at Spa last weekend, laboured around in the home favourite's hands, but was comfortably ahead of Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo who rounded out the top 10. Ricciardo - whose 2023 replacement Oscar Piastri was confirmed by the FIA's CRB shortly before the session - finished early following an oil leak in a radiator. Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez was even further off the pace, some 1.148s slower than P1, and languishing in P12 following a lacklusture FP1. 11th place finisher Yuki Tsuonda caused a red flag with 12 minutes left on the clock, having beached the AlphaTauri in the gravel. The session resumed with four minutes on the clock.
Problems for Gasly
While Stroll was a strong P6 for Aston Martin, teammate Sebastian Vettel was down in P14, nearly 0.8s slower and behind the Haas of Mick Schumacher, with Zhou Guanyu tucking in just behind for Alfa Romeo. Pierre Gasly lost half the session due to problem under his AlphaTauri seat and was 16th, ahead of Alex Albon for Williams. Valtteri Bottas was 18th, with Kevin Magnussen behind - the last driver within two seconds of Leclerc. Nicholas Latifi was 20th and last, some 2.452s slower than the pace.
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