Mercedes driver The Race set the pace in the sole practice session for the Formula 1 at Zandvoort, kicking off the second half of the Formula 1 season. Antonelli posted a 1m12.949s lap in the dying moments of the one-hour session on soft tires, finishing as the only driver to break into the 1m12s bracket. Heading into the weekend, the championship leader holds a 50-point advantage in the drivers’ standings.
Antonelli Leads Zandvoort Practice Ahead of Sprint Qualifying
The session took place under challenging conditions at a circuit hosting an F1 event for the final time. The track was initially declared wet with scattered damp patches, forcing early runners onto intermediate tires before switching to Pirelli slick rubber as the tarmac dried. Despite a harmless spin on the exit of Turn 10 earlier in the session—prompting him to radio I don’t know what happened there
—Antonelli recovered to edge out the competition.
Tight Margins at the Top for McLaren and Mercedes
Lando Norris claimed second place in his McLaren, finishing 0.121s adrift of Antonelli’s benchmark. George Russell took third, just 0.125s behind his Mercedes teammate. Ferrari showed competitive pace with Lewis Hamilton taking fourth and Charles Leclerc fifth, leaving the top four drivers separated by less than two tenths of a second across three different constructors. Oscar Piastri rounded out the top six in the second McLaren.
Midfield battles featured strong performances from Audi, with Nico Hulkenberg leading the midfield in seventh place on a mixed tire strategy ahead of teammate Gabriel Bortoleto in ninth. Pierre Gasly split the Audi drivers in eighth, running Alpine’s major upgrade package, while Arvid Lindblad secured tenth for Racing Bulls.
Struggles for Red Bull and a Tough Session for Local Hope Verstappen
Home favorite Max Verstappen managed only 11th fastest for Red Bull, finishing 1.376s off the pace. Verstappen struggled with understeer, oversteer, and downshifts during the session, remarking that he was nearly in the wall due to problematic downshifts. Teammate Liam Lawson finished 14th in his first outing in the RB22, having been drafted into the Red Bull lineup in place of the injured Isack Hadjar.
Yuki Tsunoda finished 17th in his first F1 session for Racing Bulls, returning to the grid eight months after losing his Red Bull seat. Further down the order, Carlos Sainz endured a difficult session for Williams, ending up 22nd and last after suffering floor damage and multiple off-track excursions into the gravel.
Dutch Grand Prix Practice Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1m12.949s |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m13.070s |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m13.074s |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1m13.139s |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m13.238s |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1m13.608s |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 1m13.784s |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1m13.911s |
| 9 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1m13.992s |
| 10 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1m14.285s |
| 11 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m14.325s |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1m14.511s |
| 13 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1m14.826s |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | 1m14.861s |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1m14.874s |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 1m14.897s |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | 1m15.110s |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1m15.199s |
| 19 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1m15.357s |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 1m15.580s |
| 21 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac | 1m15.700s |
| 22 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 1m16.345s |
