Norris quickest after Ricciardo and Piastri crash on banking

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.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

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.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

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

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2023 Dutch Grand Prix

• Azerbaijan GP defeat was key to record-equalling run of wins – Verstappen
• “Too early to say” if podium signals return to form for Aston Martin – Alonso
• Verstappen makes history with unbeaten hat-track in first home races
• Perez is ‘doing his job and will be our driver in 2024’, Horner insists
• Ferrari had the “sixth or seventh fastest car” at Zandvoort – Sainz

Browse all 2023 Dutch Grand Prix articles