After a long summer break F1 is finally back, as the on track action resumed today during practice for this weekends Dutch Grand Prix.

Finlay McSporran
Published: 17:19, 23rd August 2024

FP1

The big story from first practice was the weather, as rain hit the circuit just as the session began.

As the track dried throughout the session, the lap times became quicker and quicker as the clock ticked down. However, the changing conditions caught many drivers out, including the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg who ran off into the gravel not once but twice!

Another driver who spun was Max Verstappen. The Dutchman was the first driver to put on the intermediate tyres as the track dried, however he spun round at the stadium section, but thankfully no damage was done to the car.

Ferrari’s Robert Shwartzman was in the car during FP1, driving for Sauber in the place of Valtteri Bottas. He set a time good enough for P16 on the soft tyres, as the track was dry enough for slicks towards the end of the session.

McLaren’s Lando Norris set the fastest time in first practice, a 1m 12.322s some two tenths ahead of Verstappen in second.

FP2

Second practice got underway with clear skies however the red flags were out just 20 minutes into the session as Hulkenberg was in the barriers at turn 1, ruling him out for the remainder of the session.

Another driver facing difficulty was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, as the Spaniard’s car suffered a gearbox problem that ruled him out as well.

From then on it was a fairly quiet session, with drivers putting on the soft tyres for some qualifying-style laps, with George Russel putting in a 1m 10.702s, the fastest lap of the session.

Behind him was Oscar Piastry, just six hundredths down with Lewis behind him in P3 and Norris P4, with home favourite Max Verstappen 3 tenths down in 5th.

There will be a lot of pressure on Max to perform well here, having won every race at this track since F1 returned here in 2021. However if practice is anything to go by, then he’ll have to battle both Mercedes and McLarens who look to have the fastest car.

This sets up an interesting day tomorrow as Redbull have just one more practice session to try and extract more performance from their car before heading into qualifying on a track which is notoriously difficult to overtake on, as they desperately try to hang onto their title lead.

Formula one

Dutch Grand Prix