Lando Norris led the field during the opening practice
session of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, navigating through challenging track
conditions after early rainfall. The McLaren driver topped the timesheets in an
hour marked by fluctuating weather, as Formula 1 returned from its four-week
summer break.
The second half of the season kicked off in Zandvoort with a
wet and windy start, and as the lights turned green for FP1 at 12:30 local
time, teams were in no rush to hit the track. Pierre Gasly was the first to
venture out, using wet-weather tires on his Alpine, just hours after it was
announced that his current reserve teammate, Jack Doohan, would join him as a
full-time driver in 2025.
Gasly described the conditions as “pretty wild,” a sentiment
echoed by Nico Hulkenberg, who experienced a lock-up and a trip through the
gravel in his Haas before rejoining the circuit. Among the early runners was
rookie Robert Shwartzman, taking over Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo for the
session.
Despite the rain easing just 10 minutes into the session,
the wind and standing water remained a challenge as FP1 progressed. Nico
Hulkenberg ran off the track again, indicating potential issues with his VF-24,
while other drivers continued to struggle with spray as the track conditions
slowly improved.
Max Verstappen, among the first to switch to intermediate
tires, had a brief spin that brought out the yellow flags. However, the
Dutchman quickly recovered, setting the fastest lap before being edged out by
George Russell, also on intermediates.
As the track continued to dry and drivers began to push
harder—leading to more off-track moments—a few opted to take a risk on slick
tires for the final 10 minutes. Lando Norris was among those who made the
switch, immediately clocking a lap three seconds quicker than his best time on
intermediate tires.
However, Norris’s lead was short-lived as times rapidly
improved with more drivers switching to slicks. After a flurry of laps and
plenty of traffic on the circuit, Norris reclaimed P1 with a lap time of 1m
12.322s on the soft tires, finishing 0.201 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen's
Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton secured the third-fastest time for Mercedes,
with Carlos Sainz slotting into fourth after running on medium tires with his
Ferrari. George Russell claimed fifth, followed by Alex Albon in an impressive
sixth for Williams, and Oscar Piastri in seventh for McLaren.
The Haas duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen finished
eighth and ninth, respectively, while Zhou Guanyu rounded out the top 10 in his
Alfa Romeo. Behind them, Lance Stroll's Aston Martin, Sergio Perez's Red Bull,
Charles Leclerc's Ferrari, Yuki Tsunoda in the AlphaTauri, and Fernando
Alonso's Aston Martin completed the positions from P11 to P15.
Robert Shwartzman finished his session for Alfa Romeo in
P16, ahead of Williams' Logan Sargeant in P17 and Esteban Ocon's Alpine in P18.
Daniel Ricciardo placed 19th for AlphaTauri, with Pierre Gasly rounding out the
field in 20th.
With the first practice session of the weekend concluded,
teams and drivers will now debrief and regroup before returning to the track
for the second practice session at 16:00 local time.