F1 | Zandvoort, Free Practice 2: Russell sets the pace, McLaren ahead of Max

The wind swept away the clouds from Zandvoort and the sun shone in the second free practice session of the Dutch GP, subverting the weather forecast. With a track without rubber due to the morning rain, George Russell emerged in the Mercedes. The Englishman in the W15 arrived at 1’10″702, already a couple of tenths from the time of last year’s pole.

Mercedes confirms its excellent form: after the information gathered in the morning comparison, the Brackley technicians have decided to approve the W15 with the new bottom that had been rejected at Spa-Francorchamps. Russell’s best time was answered by Lewis Hamilton with the third performance, one tenth behind his younger teammate. The seven-time world champion had a small skirmish with Norris at the end of the session, while the two were proceeding towards the straight to practice the start.

Oscar Piastri slipped in between the two black-silver arrows in the qualifying simulation. The Australian, recovered from a broken rib, clocked an excellent 1’10″763 just 61 thousandths off the top with the McLaren equipped with the latest update that the Woking team decided to bring to Holland. Oscar showed off his skills by doing better than Lando Norris in the single lap: the Briton paid a couple of tenths, but showed a pace that was unsustainable for everyone in the long run. Lando impressed with the softs, also doing well with the mediums and Piastri is not far away.

The MCL38 just put down with the latest evolution gave the feeling of having immediately gone in the right direction: the Woking team does not miss a beat in the development. Max Verstappen is only fifth with Red Bull: the gap on a short track is important. The three-time world champion pays 284 thousandths in the qualifying simulation, aware of an RB20 that is not as good as he would like: Sergio Perez is witness to this, only 12th in the timesheets and lost in the race pace. The Dutchman, not exciting with the yellows in the long run, impressed with the soft, finding an unexpected pace.

Behind the best Red Bull, an unexpected Fernando Alonso emerged, capable of bringing the Aston Martin to sixth position, while Stroll did not go beyond 11th place. The Spaniard, with a more reactive “green” immediately wanted to regain the leadership of the Silverstone team.

Also positive was the performance of Yuki Tsunoda with the Racing Bulls seventh ahead of Kevin Magnussen’s Haas, while Hulkenberg was last. Nico was a victim of the wind: the German driver caused the red flag after 17 minutes at the Tarzan curve braking point. Nico was pushed by a gust of tailwind as he began braking with his Haas and ended up spinning, losing the rear end. With the VF-24 out of control, he went off on a tangent in the escape route, crashing right sideways into the barriers. Little damage to the car and the driver unharmed.

And Ferrari? Missing! Carlos Sainz was forced to return to the pits with the gearbox stuck in seventh gear: the damage was obvious and the mechanics immediately began to dismantle the SF-24 to proceed with replacing the transmission. The Spaniard is therefore 19th in the times but was never able to fit the soft tyres. Things didn’t go well for Charles Leclerc either, who continues to argue with the set-up of his red car. The Monegasque is ninth, but 13 thousandths behind a Ferrari customer car, a sign that the preparation work at Zandvoort was not done to the best, giving the impression that this trip will be a difficult one for the Prancing Horse.

Even in the long run, Ferrari did not impress, giving the impression that the track is not very suitable for the SF-24. Immediately behind Charles is Alexander Albon with the Williams vitaminized by the many technical innovations. Confirmation of the goodness of the FW46 comes from Longan Sargeant who is not at the end, but has climbed to a good 15th.

Daniel Ricciardo did not impress with the second Racing Bulls: the Australian is 13th ahead of Pierre Gasly’s Alpine. The new features of the A525 did not impress much and it is not surprising that Esteban Ocon is only 17th while Flavio Briatore was hoping for a small improvement.

Sauber did not impress: Guanyu Zhou, 16th, was content to be ahead of Valtteri Bottas, 18th, but the Finn had left his car to Robert Shwartzman in FP1.