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Lando Norris continued his dominant form at Zandvoort by topping both Friday practice sessions for the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix, setting the pace in FP2 with a 1:09.890. The McLaren driver edged out Fernando Alonso by just 0.087s, with Oscar Piastri a mere 0.002s further back in third. But while the timesheets suggest a tight fight at the front, the reality is that this was a heavily disrupted session that left teams with more questions than answers.
The second practice session was chaotic from the outset. Lance Stroll brought out the first red flag after a heavy crash at Turn 3, locking up on the banking and hitting the barriers hard. Thankfully, he walked away unhurt, but Aston Martin now face a significant overnight repair job.
Not long after the restart, Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls car ground to a halt with a loss of power, triggering a Virtual Safety Car. The rookie had already missed FP1 due to an earlier issue, meaning he ended the day without a representative lap time.
The second red flag came courtesy of Alex Albon, who slid into the Turn 1 gravel and made light contact with the barriers. Like Stroll, his session was over on the spot, and Williams will also be busy in the garage tonight.
In between the stoppages, there was a pit lane near-miss involving Piastri and George Russell, which will be investigated by the stewards. The McLaren driver initially pulled into the wrong pit box before rejoining into Russell’s path, forcing the Mercedes man to take evasive action.
Norris once again looked in complete control, delivering his best lap on the soft tyres despite gusty winds and a green track. His sector three pace was particularly strong, topping the charts with a 21.201s split. Having taken pole and a dominant win here last year, he’s clearly comfortable around Zandvoort.
Alonso split the McLarens with a superb lap on the medium tyres, underlining Aston Martin’s strong one-lap pace. The Spaniard was fastest in sector two and looks well-placed to challenge if conditions stay dry.
Piastri was just 0.089s off Norris, but admitted to a scruffy moment at Turn 9 late in the session. He’ll have access to Norris’ data overnight, which could be crucial in closing the gap before qualifying.
With two red flags, a VSC, and intermittent drizzle, no team managed a proper race simulation. That’s a major headache given the uncertainty over the weather – forecasts suggest FP3 and qualifying could be wet, leaving teams to make strategic calls with incomplete data.
Pirelli’s softer C2–C4 allocation could push the race towards a two-stop strategy, but tyre degradation figures are almost non-existent after today’s interruptions.
If Saturday stays dry, Norris is the man to beat. But at Zandvoort, with its unforgiving layout and unpredictable weather, nothing is guaranteed.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.