FP2: Leclerc pips Sainz to register a Ferrari one-two at Zandvoort

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc edged his team mate Carlos Sainz to secure a one-two result for the Scuderia in the second practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix with Mercedes once again confirming its strong pace around the twisty and narrow Zandvoort race course. F1Technical’s Balázs Szabó reports on Free Practice 2.

After a horrendous showing at Spa just a week ago, Ferrari presented themselves in a slightly better form in the second free practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix with Charles Leclerc setting the fastest lap in Zandvoort.

The majority of the field opted for Pirelli’s medium compound for its first stint before putting on the Italian tyre manufacturer’s red-walled soft compound for its qualifying simulations. Ferrari’s Monegasque racer clocked a time of 1m 12.345s on the C3 compound, the softest available in the Netherlands, to go quickest, edging his team mate Carlos Sainz, who crossed the line just 0.004s slower.

The resurgent Mercedes team raised eyebrows with its brave setup that saw the W13 of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton bounce widly over the undulating track of Zandvoort. The car that was particularly fast on the straights in the first and third sector enabled Hamilton to set the third quickest time while his team mate ended up fifth fastest.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, who did not find the ideal setup at Spa just a week ago, continued his fine form from the opening practice, took 4th. His team mate Daniel Ricciardo had an oil leak on his McLaren’s radiator in the latter stages of the session, and finished the practice in P10.

There was nothing to choose between Aston Martin and Alpine. The Silverstone based team secured an eye-catching result thanks to Lance Stroll, who finished the session sixth fastest with his team mate Sebastian Vettel securing the 14th spot on the standings.

The Anglo-French outfit ended the practice in the top ten with both cars with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon going seventh and ninth fastest.

Following the utter dominance at Spa last Sunday, it was a bit more difficult day for Red Bull, as while Max Verstappen – who missed most of FP1 with a transmission issue – was eighth fastest, his team mate Sergio Perez was down in P12. However, Verstappen’s early pace in the opening session and his high-fuel race run in the second practice indicated that there is a lot more left in the tank for the Anglo-Austrian squad.

Haas endured difficult days over the course of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, but they appeared to be in a much more promising form today. Mick Schumacher was 1.2s off Leclerc’s benchmark, ending the day in P13 with his team mate Kevin Magnussen securing the 19th spot on the leaderboards.

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda took 11th, but his day was cut short after beaching his car in the gravel at the exit of Turn 10 with the incident bringing out the red flags. His team mate Pierre Gasly also had a dismal day after missing much of FP2 with a technical issue under his seat. The Frenchman eventually was 16th overall in the session.

Commenting on his day, the racer from Rouen said: “It’s not been a great day for me really, I’ve not felt that happy with the car in either session. We also had to make some changes to the car at the start of FP2, which unfortunately cost us quite a lot of track time. So far, it’s been quite challenging, so we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us tonight and tomorrow, but I’m sure we’ll find some solutions and feel more confident heading into Quali.”

After securing a championship point at Spa, Williams racer Alexander Albon was down in P17 while his team mate Nicholas Latifi ended the session in the last position nearly a second slower than the Thai-British racer.