Kimi Antonelli was fastest in practice ahead of sprint qualifying for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix; the championship leader set a 12.949 to put his Mercedes a tenth ahead of the reigning champion Lando Norris. The Mercedes driver looked in control as the sport resumed after the summer break, going into the most intense phase of the season.
Norris managed to split the two Mercedes as he put his McLaren four thousandths ahead of George Russell; over the break, there had been suggestions whether Norris’ victory in Budapest was a turning point and if he could make a comeback to defend his title. The other man in the title race, Lewis Hamilton, put his Ferrari fourth, but seven hundredths further behind.
McLaren have brought upgrades to the rear of the car to complete the package that helped Norris to victory last time out in Hungary and are set to contend at the front again with Mercedes and Ferrari.
Hamilton had started the weekend by trying to motivate his Ferrari team to get things right and bring the improvements so he could challenge the Mercedes duo for what would be a record-breaking eighth title. The Englishman a tenth faster than teammate Charles Leclerc.
Ferrari has brought a new floor which appeared to be working well with both drivers within three tenths of Antonelli. However, the pair set their best lap times earlier than the Mercedes and McLarens, so, in theory, had a slower track, so will be expected to be a lot closer in Sprint Qualifying.
Oscar Piastri completed the top three teams as he put his McLaren sixth, but was significantly further behind as he was nearly four tenths behind Leclerc. As normal, the top three teams looked to have a clear advantage over the rest of the field, Leclerc going nearly three tenths faster than Nico Hulkenberg.
The Audi’s impressed with a late medium run, Hulkenberg going seventh and teammate Gabriel Bortoleto ninth, the duo split by the Alpine of Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman over a tenth behind Hulkenberg and eight hundredths faster than the Brazilian.
Alpine, Audi and Aston Martin have also brought upgrades this weekend. Max Verstappen started what could be his final ever home race by missing out on the top ten by four hundredths, after going a little wide at Kumho (Turn Thirteen), but was nearly two tenths ahead of Fernando Alonso.
Alonso was a second and a half off the pace, which is the closest they have been this season – and will hope to translate that pace into Sprint Qualifying later on. Verstappen was visibly struggling with the balance of his car and faces the prospect of a challenging final home race as the Dutch Grand Prix does not have a contract beyond this year.
Franco Colapinto was four hundredths faster than Liam Lawson, the New Zealander replacing Isack Hadjar at Red Bull this weekend after the French-Algerian injured his wrist during training over the break.
Ollie Bearman was two hundredths ahead of Haas teammate Esteban Ocon, with Lawson’s replacement at Racing Bulls, Yuki Tsunoda, two tenths further behind. Lance Stroll putting his Aston Martin nine hundredths behind the Japanese driver as he went just over a tenth faster than Alex Albon.
The two Cadillacs split the Williams, Valtteri Bottas over two tenths behind Albon as he went just over a tenth faster than Sergio Perez. Albon’s teammate Carlos Sainz was hampered for much of the session by floor damage, after he went wide early on, costing “20 points of downforce”, which is probably a fair chunk of time.
Going into sprint qualifying, the fight appears to be between the Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari, the top six covered by three tenths. Verstappen would have missed out on SQ3 by four hundredths, with the cut-off being a 14.2 and SQ2 cut-off a 14.87. However, the forecast remains mixed.
