Dutch GP, FP2: Leclerc tops Ferrari 1-2 at Zandvoort

As Red Bull Racing struggle

Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet in the second practice session for this weekend’s 2002 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, beating team-mate Carlos Sainz by just 0.004s as Ferrari completed a 1-2 finish. Championship-leading Red Bull struggled for pace, however, with Drivers’ title leader Max Verstappen finishing eighth while team-mate Sergio Pérez was classified 12th.

The start of the session was delayed by 15 minutes due to two red flag periods during qualifying for the Formula 2 race and in the early stages of the session Sainz led the way with a lap of 1:13.544. Verstappen soon emerged, however, and with soft tyres on board he stole P1 with a lap of 1:13.465.

Sainz then retook first place with a lap of 1:13.412 and he was then backed up by Leclerc who slotted into second place before the field returned to the pit lane to plot their qualifying simulations.

Sainz was the first of the frontrunners to head out on soft tyres and on the quicker tyre the Ferrari driver improved to a time of 1:12.349 to cement himself into P1. Verstappen then took to the track on the red-banded tyres but his effort was well off the pace and he crossed the line almost seven tenths of a second off the Spaniard.

Mercedes’ George Russell stole into second place soon after but his time was then beaten by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Hamilton in the second Mercedes.

Leclerc then appeared at the halfway mark and the Monegasque driver vaulted to first place ahead of Sainz, though only just. Leclerc’s time of 1:12.345 was 0.004s ahead of his team-mate’s.

Behind Hamilton, Norris held onto fourth place ahead of Russell, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll sixth ahead of the Alpine of Fernando Alonso. Verstappen slumped to eighth place at the flag, while Esteban Ocon was ninth in the other Alpine, though three tenths behind the Dutchman. Ocon was the last man inside a second of Leclerc.

Tenth place went to Daniel Ricciardo in the second McLaren, with AlphaTauri’s 11th on a time of 1:13.419. That put the Japanese driver 0.075s ahead of Sergio Pérez who after finishing a a second off the pace in the morning ended up 1.148s off in the afternoon.

Tsunoda’s run to 11th wasn’t without incident. In the final 15 minutes of the session the Japanese driver slid into the gravel at Turn 10, an off that brought out the red flags and caused a seven-minute delay.