Norris edges Verstappen in first Dutch GP practice

Lando Norris topped a mixed-weather first practice session at the Dutch Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen. Practice started on a soaking-wet circuit after rain had doused the track in the lead-up to the opening session. Cars were reticent to leave pit lane, with only a game Pierre Gasly for Alpine and then the Haas teammates tiptoeing around on full-wet tires in the opening minutes. Conditions were generally unappealing, with the ambient and track temperature remaining below 70 degrees F and the wind blowing at 18 miles per hour. Hulkenberg learned the hard way the circuit’s unforgiving state, running off the road three times — twice through the gravel — during his five-lap opening stint. Sun broke through the clouds around halfway through the session, coaxing home favorite Verstappen onto the track on intermediate tires. His first timed lap was tricky, spinning at Turn 11 after taking a bite out of the curb, but his second attempt sent him rocketing to the top of the order. It triggered a flurry of changes to the intermediate tire, enlivening the session, and in the final 12 minutes the circuit was dry enough for drivers to sample slicks. Norris excelled on his set of red-marked soft tires, repeatedly lowering the benchmark to the eventual session-topping time of 1m12.322s with his final lap of the session after the checkered flag fell. It was enough to pip the late-improving Verstappen by 0.201s. Lewis Hamilton had been a perpetual top-spot threat but had no answer to Norris and Verstappen’s late speed, finishing third but 0.684s off the pace. There would have been more on the table for Hamilton, however, had he not encountered slow traffic in the final sector, getting balked at Turn 11 and then having to weave around slower cars on the run down to Turn 13. Carlos Sainz was the quickest Ferrari, lapping 0.752s off the pace but using the medium compound as his slick tire, preserving his softs for later in the weekend. Despite using the slower compound, he was 0.068s quicker than than the second Mercedes of George Russell, who was fifth fastest. Williams’ Alex Albon was sixth fastest after a late effort, eclipsing McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Haas teammates Hulkenberg and Magnussen, and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu completing the top 10. Lance Stroll was 11th for Aston Martin ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who struggled with traffic on his final lap to end 1.957s off the pace. Charles Leclerc couldn’t get in a clean lap on his mediums, the Ferrari driver ending the session 13th ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Robert Shwartzman, who commandeered Valtteri Bottas’s Sauber for the session. Logan Sargeant was 17th ahead of Esteban Ocon, Daniel Ricciardo and Gasly to complete the order.