Lando Norris, McLaren, Zandvoort, 2023

Norris quickest after Ricciardo and Piastri crash on banking

2023 Dutch Grand Prix second practice

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Lando Norris topped the second practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix after Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo both crashed out.

Norris was less than half a tenth quicker than Max Verstappen during the second hour of running at the Zandvoort circuit. But his team mate Piastri crashed at the banked turn three before the halfway mark. Ricciardo followed him into the barriers moments later.

Ricciardo avoided using his left hand as he climbed out of the cockpit and received medical attention after complaining of pain in his wrist.

After a relatively sunny start to the weekend in the opening practice session, skies were overcast for the second and final hour of running. Lance Stroll, who had been unable to complete any timed laps in the first session due to a power unit problem, was quick to get out on track and pick up running as the session began.

George Russell set the early best lap time of a 1’13.358 on medium compound tyres in his Mercedes, but that was quickly beaten by Sergio Perez in the Red Bull, who posted a 1’12.750, also on the mediums. Perez’s team mate Verstappen was set to beat his time but was caught up behind Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas at the penultimate corner – much to the champion’s displeasure. The incident will be investigated by the stewards after the session.

Verstappen made up for his first lap being ruined by posting a lap almost two tenths faster than Perez on his next attempt to take the top spot in the order. However, the session was red flagged just ten minutes in when Piastri lost control of his McLaren through the banked third corner and crashed into the barriers. Ricciardo, the first car on the scene, locked up while trying to take avoiding action and also speared into the barriers.

Despite appearing to climb out of the car well enough, Ricciardo had reported that he had hurt his hand as he hit the wall. The AlphaTauri driver was taken to the medical centre for checks and Ricciardo was later taken to a nearby hospital for further evaluation.

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After a 10-minute delay to repair the barrier, the session resumed with almost the entire field taking to the track on soft tyres. Norris set the fastest time of the session and of the day so far with a 1’11.330, with Verstappen’s effort on softs only good enough for second, two tenths slower than the McLaren.

Carlos Sainz Jnr missed the opening session of the day after stepping aside for Robert Shwartzman. As the Ferrari driver acclimatised himself with the circuit, he ran off at turn 11, running through the gravel – a mistake Stroll repeated later in the session.

Verstappen improved on his personal best but not by enough to beat Norris’ best, matching the McLaren on a 1’11.3. Teams then turned their focus to longer runs over the last third of the session, with many of the traditional front runners putting in stints of more than 15 laps.

With drivers on high fuel runs, there were no improvements at the top of the times in the final minutes. Sainz briefly brought out the yellow flags in the final minutes with his second off of the session, running wide at the penultimate corner of turn 13.

Eventually, the chequered flag signalled the end of the session with Norris confirmed as the fastest driver. Verstappen was second, but it was Alexander Albon who put Williams third fastest at the end of Friday.

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest Mercedes driver in fourth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the sole remaining AlphaTauri. After Pierre Gasly came Perez in seventh, then Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso.

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2023 Dutch Grand Prix second practice result

Position Number Driver Team Model Time Gap Laps
1 4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes MCL60 1’11.330 30
2 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda RBPT RB19 1’11.353 0.023 26
3 23 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes FW45 1’11.599 0.269 31
4 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes W14 1’11.638 0.308 27
5 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT AT04 1’11.720 0.390 31
6 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault A523 1’11.766 0.436 30
7 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull-Honda RBPT RB19 1’11.817 0.487 29
8 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Mercedes AMR23 1’11.835 0.505 31
9 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari C43 1’11.857 0.527 31
10 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Mercedes AMR23 1’11.863 0.533 31
11 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF-23 1’11.915 0.585 29
12 2 Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes FW45 1’11.934 0.604 31
13 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault A523 1’12.001 0.671 30
14 63 George Russell Mercedes W14 1’12.009 0.679 28
15 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo-Ferrari C43 1’12.074 0.744 30
16 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Ferrari SF-23 1’12.093 0.763 31
17 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari VF-23 1’12.404 1.074 28
18 27 Nico Hulkenberg Haas-Ferrari VF-23 1’12.693 1.363 31
19 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes MCL60 1’12.901 1.571 6
20 3 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT AT04 1’13.096 1.766 7

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2023 Dutch Grand Prix

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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7 comments on “Norris quickest after Ricciardo and Piastri crash on banking”

  1. Ricciardo clearly didn’t pay any attention to the stopped Mclaren or yellow warning, so lack of concentration making him forget to turn left is the only logical explanation for his error.

    1. Ricciardo took the normal (very wide) line into the corner, and discovered Piastri in the wall.
      The yellow flag came out when he was just shy of the turn-in point. He had no time to react and nowhere to go.

      1. S, Axel – Valid pointd & I eventually also noted how little reaction time he had regarding the relevant light panel showing yellow.
        Btw, I didn’t mean he forgot a corner was coming up, but that focus on other things made him forget to start turning.

    2. Have to agree that he reacted late. But I think the crash was more down to having to brake too much because he saw it too late, resulting in a lock-up that caused him to hit the wall. Can’t imagine he simply forgot there was a corner coming up.

  2. Oscar Disastri already becoming common? He’s already common in F1 manager, don’t tell me he will become part here too…

  3. Coventry Climax
    25th August 2023, 18:31

    Good job by Albon!
    Ofcourse it may not say all that much about strengths for the race itself, but with Sargeant on p12, there’s a bit more credibility in the car having pace.

    First Ferrari PU on P9. Are they sure their issues are only chassis/aero related?

  4. It looks as though Lawson will get two race weekends to show what he’s got.
    If that turns out to be better than Tsunoda, will Ricciardo be allowed back for Singapore?

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